


Slipknot X Reader (ongoing)

by atleastthirteen



Category: Slipknot (Band)
Genre: Cameos, Carnival, Christmas Fluff, College, College AU, Comfort, Fluff, Frenemies, Friends to Dating, GenderNeutral!Reader, Halloween, High School, Kids, Kittens, Lessons, Mostly Fluff, Music Lessons, Not Incest, Oneshot, Oneshot Compilation, Prom, Roommates, School Dance, Siblings, Slipknot - Freeform, Some angst, Wedding date, body image issues, brothers best friend, clown, hate to hook up, more than friends, protective older brother, savior!complex, taking care of someone while they’re sick, violence tw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:34:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 40,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24956920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atleastthirteen/pseuds/atleastthirteen
Summary: Collection of Slipknot and similar band oneshots. Majority of which are applicable to a gender neutral reader unless otherwise stated.I take requests! I'd like to keep some variety though so similar ones to these might take a minute, but I'd love to hear your ideas anyways! Also I will probably not do any Craig one-shots unless they are specifically requested, because man's a ghost and I don't know anything about him. Plus it's slightly difficult to write about a character that never talks so...Nothing but love for Craig though, don’t get me wrongThanks!! —> important note: kinda on hiatus right now, hoping to get back into it soon, if you have an idea I’d still love to hear it
Relationships: Chris Fehn/Reader, Corey Taylor/Reader, Jim Root/Reader, Joey Jordison/Reader, Mick Thomson/Reader, Olderbrother!Mick Thomson, Paul Gray/Reader, Shawn Crahan/Reader, Sid Wilson/Reader, Slipknot/Reader
Comments: 34
Kudos: 77





	1. Corey gets sic! (Corey X Reader)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Corey has a fever and you come over to help. Very cute, very fluffy, Corey jokes around even when he has a high fever.  
> Trigger warnings: being sic, fevers, cursing

You opened the door slowly, stepping in and trying to keep quiet. The door closed behind you and sent a gust of freezing wind right at your back. A shiver ran through your whole body, but was quickly chased away by the furnace pumping heat into the room.

You slipped off your boots near the entryway and tossed your coat over an armchair. Sweat had already started to collect under your long sleeve shirt. It was warm inside, too warm.

“Corey?” You called quietly through the house. He texted you that he had a cold and couldn’t make it to lunch that day. You offered to cancel it, but he insisted it would be unfair to Sid who had invited you two in the first place. So you went with Sid and had a fun time, but couldn’t shake the worry gnawing in the back of your brain.

It wasn’t like Corey to send a six word text and then clam up. Usually he was pretty chatty. The cold must be hitting him hard.

As you walked further into the house, there was still no answer from Corey and your concern was starting to grow. He’s a singer in a metal band for crying out loud. Man’s got lungs like an airhorn.

“Corey?” You said again, sharper this time and skeptical.

A loud cough came from down the hall, followed by some sniffling and deep breaths.

“I’m in here.” You could barely hear him from down the hall, but what you could hear you didn’t like. His voice was rough and scratchy, and sounded more nasally than usual.

You walked to his room and stood outside. It was cracked open with a soft beam of light fading into the dark hallway from the gap. You knocked twice, even though you know you didn’t have to.

Corey was one of your best friends. You’d lived in the same town your whole lives, but rarely gave each other a second glance until you started going to the record store and noticed he worked there. Nearly every week for two months you went there to see if a limited edition copy of Bites by Skinny Puppy was in stock.

He said they would have it in two weeks. Then two weeks turned into next month, and finally Corey confessed they’d had it for a while, but he hid it so you wouldn’t stop coming to the store. At first you were a little pissed off, but after he apologised and gave you a 20% discount, you forgave him on the condition that if he ever wanted to see you again, he would text you like a normal person. He agreed and you had been close ever since.

People often mistook you for dating when you went out together. That usually led to some awkward laughing and “Him? He’s like a brother to me,” or something to that extent. It was a lie though. Corey never felt like a brother. A close friend sure, but there was always something else that you couldn’t put your finger on.

“Come in,” came Corey’s raspy response. The door opened with a creak and you stepped in. Immediately the smell of sweat pressed into your nose and you fought the urge to turn around and talk to Corey from the hallway where the air was fresher, but ask you turned to look at him, your heart softened.

Corey was huddled in bed, under the covers, sweating profusely and shivering. You rushed over despite a weak protest and held the back of your hand against his forehead. You nearly yanked your hand away.

“Corey, you’re burning up. Why do you have the heat on so high?” You pulled the blanket out of his grasp and fanned it up and down before pulling down to his waist. A small blush crept into your cheeks when you noticed he was only in his boxers and you swallowed.

“What the fuuuuck? Why’d you do that? I’m fuckin’ freezing.” He groaned, pushing his face further into a sweat soaked pillow.

“You probably have a fever. Is there a thermometer anywhere around here?”

“I don’t fucking know. Check the medicine cabinet in the bathroom down the hall.” You rifled through the cabinet, finding a thermometer and some tylenol, but not before seeing a bottle of xanax you knew Corey wasn’t prescribed. You scowled, but that was a fight for another day.

You rushed back to Corey's room and coaxed him to let you put the thermometer under his tongue.

“I’m fine, I don’t have a fever.”

“You’re an idiot is what you are.” The thermometer beeped twice and you read the small screen. Your eyes widened. “And you definitely have a fever.” You waved the thermometer in his face. “You see this. It says 101. 3 (35.8 C)! That’s not normal. Not normal by like 10 degrees.” You grumbled, exaggerating. God, you loved Corey but he could be so stubborn sometimes.

“Well, how was I supposed to take my temperature? I’ve been in bed all day.” He coughed violently yet somehow still managed to sound sarcastic in his trademark way.

“Whatever, take this. I’ll get some water.” You passed him two tylenol and went to the kitchen to get a glass. While there, you grabbed an ice pack from the freezer and wrapped it in a paper towel. He’s not going to like this, you thought.

You were right, he nearly hissed when you laid it across his forehead. You threw your hands up in a gesture of defeat.

“What do you want from me? I’m just trying to take care of you.” Corey coughed and you instantly felt bad. “Just, let me do my thing. I promise you’ll feel better soon.” He nodded and closed his eyes.

You sat on the floor by his bed flipping through a comic you found on the dresser until he started snoring. At first you waited to make sure he wasn’t choking, but when he seemed okay, you left and brought back a new ice pack, before cleaning the old one and putting it back in the freezer.

You turned off the heat and took care of some of the mess in the house. There were a few dishes around the sink, so you loaded them into the dishwasher and turned it on. Two of Corey’s jackets as well as a blanket were thrown over the back of the couch and on the coffee table. You grabbed them and put them in the washing machine with the rest of the dirty clothes you found in his room. What this house really needs is a rinse down with bleach, you thought grimly. He’s gonna owe me for this.

You had turned on the news while you worked, more for background noise that anything else, but when you finished you froze. You couldn’t hear Corey snoring anymore. Had he choked and suffocated while you were half listening to some idiot give a censored version of a political meeting that went on last night?

The door nearly slammed open as you ran back to his room, but you caught it just in time. He wasn’t dead. He hadn’t suffocated. He was still sleeping peacefully. It seemed the medicine was working, because his breathing didn’t sound so congested anymore.

A sigh of relief escaped your chest. Why did you overreact like that anyways? What on earth were the chances of him dying when you were 20 feet away?

He twitched in his sleep and you snuck out and back to the living room. You plopped down on the couch and pulled out your phone. The dial tone rang twice...

“Hey dude,” Sid’s voice said cheerfully through the speaker.

“Hey, Sid. I need your advice.” You said hesitantly.

“Yeah okay, what’s up?”

You sighed. Sid was probably the closest friend you had, even closer than Corey. There were pictures of Sid attacking you with a water gun when you were six and an awkward shot of you two at the 7th grade dance where you both agreed dating was stupid and “went” with each other instead, among many other treasures your mom had stashed in the attic.

Now Sid, he felt much more like a brother than Corey. Which was probably good because one time when he was at your house, you went to 7-11 for what you could have sworn was three minutes, only to find him on top of your older sister when you got back. That was certainly interesting.

“So I’m at Corey’s and he’s sick as fuck, like I took his tempurature and it was that of a small volcano.”

“Yikes, whatever he has make sure you don’t catch it.”

“Yeah I know, but basically…” You trailed off.

“Basically what?”

“I think I like Corey,” you blurted out. Silence on the other end.

“Okay not to be rude, but how the fuck did you just figure that out? I- I’ve known for at least three months and I’ve known Corey likes you for about your whole goddamn friendship….Hello? You still there?” You shook your head slightly to clear it and realized your mouth had fallen open. Was Sid right? Had he really known for that long? And why didn’t he tell you?

“Sid, are you fucking with me?”

“I am dead serious for once in my life.”

“Well, what the fuck do I do now?”

“I dunno know. Confess your true love? Propose? Skip town and never come back?” You scoffed.

“Some help you are Sidney.”

“I never said I was an expert in the love department. Your sister on the other hand..” He chuckled on the other line, clearly unable to stay serious.

“Oh gross. Shut up.” You heard coughing from down the hall. “I gotta go, love you, bye.”

“By-” You hung up before he had the chance to finish and nearly sprinted down the hall, skidding to stop in front of the door. You stepped forward and immediately stepped back. You took a few deep breaths, smoothed your clothes, and pushed your hair away from your face.

Here goes nothing.

“Hey,” Corey called as you stepped in. He sounded much better than before and your heart swelled with relief.

“You sound better,” you said, somewhat flatley. Talking to Sid had been no help at all. He only succeeded in confusing you more.

“Well, I feel better. Thanks for uhh helping.” He smiled. Your face flushed and you looked away.

“Yeah, ‘course no problem. Here I’ll get you a new ice pack.” After you returned with the ice pack, you took Corey’s temperature again.

“100.6, still high, but better than before. You look better too.” Corey smirked.

“Don’t I always look good?” You rolled your eyes.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Corey Taylor. High fever and still cracking jokes.” He laughed, which eventually dissolved into a fit of coughs. After a few sips of water he could breathe again. “Sorry.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it. Thanks for coming over. I mean, I still feel like shit, but less shitty than I did this morning.”

“Good, good. Umm, that’s what friends are for.” Your voice wavered as you said the word friends and you prayed to whatever the fuck was up there that he didn’t notice. His smile faltered and your heart sped up.

“Friends, right.” He looked away.

“Corey, I-”

“Save it.” He held up his hand. “Spare me the rejection speech.” Silence blanketed the room and despite the whirring of the AC it started to feel hot and stifling. You didn’t move and Corey started to turn over, away from you.

“I wasn’t going to give you a rejection speech.” You exclaimed, significantly louder than you intended. He paused and you turned as red as a tomato. He raised an eyebrow. “I- I mean, I wasn’t going to reject you.” This time it was barely a whisper.

“Oh,” was all he said. The seconds ticked by, or was it minutes, or hours? It didn’t even matter as every moment went by you tried to shrink further into yourself as if eventually you could just disappear.

He grabbed your hand and you looked up. He gestured for you to come closer and you swallowed, an idea of what was about to happen next passing through your head. You sat on the edge of the bed and he propped himself up on his elbows, surveying you in front of him. If you could’ ve blushed any harder, you would have.

His lips were on yours before you knew what was going. He braced his hands behind him, pressing his body against you. Every thought emanated from your head and was replaced by a single sentence; Oh my god, I’m kissing Corey Taylor.

He sat back, more like flopped back, onto the bed, looking nearly as shocked as you were.

“That was…” he trailed off.

“Amazing.” You finished, your eyes glued to the floor. He took your hand and squeezed gently and your eyes widened. You jumped back off the bed and almost fell onto the floor in your haste. Corey looked somewhere between shocked and hurt and your heart crumpled.

“Corey Todd Taylor, until ten fucking minutes ago you had a fever of 102, and of all goddamn things to do you kiss me?!” The horror faded from his face and was replaced with a guilty smirk.

“I guess so,” he said smoothly, not so guilty after all apparently.

“Jerk,” you said with a smile. Sitting beside his bed again. He started to lean towards you, but you held up your hand. “I don’t want to get sick. Wait for the fever to go away.” He gave an exaggerated pout in response and you felt bad. You kissed your hand and pressed it against his forehead. “Better?”

“Yeah okay.” He nodded and you pulled your hand away.

“Jesus christ you’re still a fucking oven.”


	2. Shawn Comforts You (Shawn X Reader)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW: Animal Death (non-graphic), smoking weed

Your phone buzzed for the third time in what seemed like five seconds and you pushed it away, sending it skidding across the wood table to balance precariously close to the edge. You just rolled your eyes.

“If that fucking phone breaks and I have to pay for a new one, that’s fucking it. I’m running away and joining the circus where I can play with lions and the only currency is peanuts,” you thought angrily as your fingers toyed with the edge of an old polaroid; a candid, almost accidental shot of your cat Sally, where the lighting was so bad her eyes glowed like a demon’s.

You remembered when that photo was taken. Two am maybe? Three? Your cousin sent you a polaroid camera for Christmas and after about ten minutes of puzzling over how to use it, you called over your best friend Shawn to fuck with it.

He figured it out immediately and teased you for the rest of the night, saying stuff like “kids these days,” and “technology is poisoning this generation.” These comments did nothing but score him playful shoves. He was only two years older, but never let you forget it for a second.

It got late and after some pizza and Ben & Jerry’s, Shawn revealed he hadn’t come over empty handed and pulled two blunts out of his wallet.

Flash forward thirty minutes and the camera was being passed around and fiddled with, until you finally yelled for him to take a goddamn picture. He responded by telling you to smile and then acting as if your middle finger had been a gunshot wound.

At some point when the lights were half off, poor Sally had wandered into the room, meowing for more food. As you got up to grab the kibble from the kitchen, Shawn pulled your hand down and whispered, “take a shot of the fucking cat,” before collapsing onto a bean bag chair in a fit of choking laughter.

Your hand slipped as you pressed the button and Sally jumped when the flash went off. The result was a dark photo with a white and grey blur with glowing green eyes dead center. When it dried and you looked at the photo, both of you were in stitches, rolling on the floor laughing for what felt like hours, but god knows how long it really was.

You blinked as a tear falling onto your hand snapped you back into the real world. “Right, the real world,” you thought. The world where Sally died yesterday and you found her body cold in her bed this morning. You lived alone and sometimes Sally was the only thing that kept your apartment from feeling painfully empty. She was a stray you found at a shelter after she walked right up to you in the area where they let a few cats play for visitors. It was love at first sight. She could be shy around new comers, but around friends she was always cute and ready for pets.

You made sure she lived a good life. The shelter said she was two years old when you adopted her and she died nine years later, leading you to believe her cause of death was old age.

You rubbed your eyes, smearing tears everywhere on your face. “Hopefully she didn’t suffer.”

Your phone buzzed again, this time in the drawn out beat of your ringtone, amplified against the table. Shawn was to blame for the barrage of texts and calls. You were supposed to meet him for “breakfast” (really lunch, since he hardly ever woke up before 11 o’clock) at IHOP, but after finding Sally, you couldn’t make it out the door.

The call went to voicemail and your lips twitched upwards into the smallest of smiles imagining the colorful message Shawn was probably dictating right now.

You shivered and realized the air was on and you were still in your pyjamas, shorts and a tank top. Your phone forgotten, you sat on the small navy blue sofa, wrapped yourself in a blanket and switched on the television. The Simpsons was on, which wasn’t surprising since it was a Saturday. You grimaced slightly, the show kind of got on your nerves, but there probably wasn’t anything better to watch, so you sat back and curled deeper into the blanket.

The episode ended and another just started when a loud banging nearly made you jump out of your skin.

“Hey! I know you're in there!” Shawn yelled through the door. He knocked forcefully two more times. You didn’t move from the couch. “Fine, you wanna play hardball?” You heard the jangle of keys and mentally noted to reconsider whether or not Shawn having a key your place of rest and privacy was a good idea.

The door flew open and you cringed, Shawn looked ready to fight someone. You rolled your eyes, he was all bark and no bite. He wouldn’t hurt a fly, much less you. His eyes scanned the room and landed on your huddled figure. His whole posture softened.

“Hey,” he said softly. “What happened? And don’t you dare tell me nothing happened because I know that look on your face.” You looked at the floor and felt the couch dip next to you as Shawn sat down. Without saying anything he wrapped his arms around you and you let yourself relax into the hug.

After sometime, a few minutes maybe, you looked up at Shawn with sad, tired eyes and his brows furrowed.

“What’s wrong?” He tried again. You shifted away a little and sighed.

“It’s not that bad. You’re gonna laugh,” you said dejected and turned away.

“Of all the people in the world, you think I’m going to laugh?” he scoffed. You nodded and he let out an exasperated sigh. “Okay, Mick getting hit in the nuts by Joey’s drumstick at band practice is funny. Whatever happened that made you so sad you couldn’t even text me, that’s not funny.” Another small smile graced your lips and your stubbornness faded at the sight of his exaggerated pleading eyes.

“Fine. Sally- umm Sally died last night. I found her this morning.” Any trace of humor vanished from Shawn’s face.

“Oh,” was all he said for a moment. Shawn loved that cat as much as you did, despite the scratches he sometimes suffered at her paw. “I’m sorry, I had no idea.”

“It’s okay. It’s not your fault.” You shrugged.

“No. It’s not okay. Your fucking cat just died, you’re allowed to be sad about it.” His melancholy tone snapped whatever dam was inside you and you broke into quiet sobs. Shawn pulled you into a near suffocating bear hug. You cried onto his shoulder, your tears soaking into his black sweatshirt.

When your sobs died down, you coughed and patted his shoulder.

“Shawn?” You squeaked. “I can’t breathe.” He just stared at you for a second, as if it took him a moment to process your request. Then he relaxed his arms.

“Oh yeah, sorry about that.” You couldn’t help but let out a huffed laugh. Leave it to Shawn to make you laugh at a time like this.

“Thanks, Shawn.”

“Yeah, of course.”

“No- I mean it. Thank you for coming over and nearly breaking down my door.” He chuckled. “And uh, sorry about not texting you this morning. It was just an emotional few hours.”

“Don’t mention it. You did whatever felt right in the moment. No need to apologise.” A heavy but comfortable silence filled the room and you leaned against Shawn, letting the space where your shoulders touched keep you grounded in reality.

“So…” He said after a while, and as if on cue his stomach growled. Your eyes widened. He had planned to wait for you to eat. “Still wanna go get pancakes?” You nodded energetically.

“Shit, yeah sorry. I didn’t know you were gonna wait for me.”


	3. Oddly Specific Insecurity (Joey X Reader)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW: some violence/abuse, big-ass plot twist, implied smut/PG-13 smut teaser  
> Like I said, oddly specific but it just came to me, so you've been dating Joey for a little over a year, but he has a kid that he still supports from a previous relationship, other than sending money though he is not involved with his ex or his son pretty much. His ex is a woman, but the reader is still gender neutral.
> 
> Also this is just me, but I typically think of Joey as how he looked in VIMIC in this story, but it’s totally up to you how you want him to look.

“...And later tonight Chelsea’s got a great story for you about how one teenager was able to change his whole community.” The artificially cheerful voice of the late night news host floated through the room and your eyes fluttered open.

Well, thanks for nothing, you thought. You were exhausted from a busy week and had been napping on the couch till the murmurs of the TV woke you up. You rolled over and stretched your arms above your head, groaning as your muscles contracted involuntarily. Your eyes slowly adjusted to the light and you looked up over the back of the couch and into the kitchen where Joey was sitting at the table glaring at some envelopes as if they just murdered a litter of kittens.

You stood up and stretched one more time, before making your way over to him. He looked mad, but you weren’t sure if it was the type of mad you couldn’t get him out of. You wrapped your arms around him from behind and rested your chin on his shoulder.

“What are you doing, Joey?” You asked softly, shifting your face to inhale the smell of his sweatshirt. Joey always smelled good, like coconut shampoo and Oldspice. He didn’t say anything and you frowned. “And why do you look like you could punch a wall right now?” He looked up, the lines in his forehead softening when his eyes met yours. They were darker than usual, more steel blue, than sky. It was slightly unnerving.

“Sorry sorry, I’m just stressed.” He rubbed his hand up and down your arm and kissed your forehead, seemingly still wrapped up in the bills covering the table in front of him.

“You shouldn’t be worrying this much, it’s not healthy. We’re going to be fine. I’m getting my bonus next week, so that’ll help, and-”

“Don’t,” he held up a hand. “Keep it, I don’t need it.”

“No, I don’t mind. I wanna help. We live together for christ’s sake. What’s mine is yours.”

“Not- not this.”

“Joey, what are you talki-” You trailed off. Amidst the water, power, and credit card bills was one from his ex. The child support bill. Right. That.

Your face fell. No matter how many times, how many months, how many “there’s nothing I can do baby”s, it still hurt. It’d been a year and a half since Joey broke up with his ex. It wasn’t a bad relationship, they just found themselves falling out of love.

What Kate didn’t tell him though, was that she was five months pregnant and by the time the baby was born it was too late. Although they parted on semi-amicable terms, she didn’t want him back. Joey still offered, but she turned him down. It was for the best, but he was still stuck paying child support every month.

It’s not that you wanted to see a child go hungry, especially Joey’s child, but how entrenched he was with his ex still made you uncomfortable. You trusted him with your life and you knew he would never do anything to hurt you. Joey was in love with you, but the worry never left.

“Oh,” was all you said. Your hands tensed, fingers accidentally digging a little harder into his black sweatshirt and he flinched. You pulled back. “Sorry,” and sat on the couch again.

You turned the TV up a little louder and let your face fall into your hands. Why was it like this every damn month? Why couldn’t you just get used to it? Joey only met his son once. Kate preferred he stay out of their lives as much as possible when she met her husband. She didn’t plan on lying to her son, and everyone knew he would eventually go looking for Joey when he got older.

Perhaps it was that. Perhaps, it was impossible to let go of because you knew one day his son would show up and start spinning whatever tale he built in his mind of why Joey left.

You shook your head. You didn’t want to think about this now.

You let the news run until the newscaster’s voice started sounding less like a human and more like nails on a chalkboard. There was really nothing else on and you gave up channel surfing rather quickly. Your bed seemed more attractive than any show right now. The TV clicked when you turned it off and tossed the remote back onto the couch.

“Night,” you called to Joey, colder than you intended.

After washing up and changing into soft pyjamas, you lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Your mind slowly went over everything you were feeling earlier but couldn’t name. Joey knew it upset you and hid the check most of the time, which you were honestly grateful for. This seemed to be one of those things where ignorance was bliss. It was easy to forget when you were with Joey.

Being with Joey was the happiest time of your life. Things moved a little quickly after the first few months, but you couldn’t help it. Joey wanted to be with you, and you wanted to be with him. Joey was the one who encouraged you to go after the job you’d been coveting for years and was a little too proud when you got accepted. He was always there for you after every fight with your best friend, on every bad day, anytime you were sick or depressed.

A tear slid down your cheek and you sniffled. Goddamn it. Why do I have to be so goddamn sensitive all the time? You rolled over and closed your eyes. I’ll talk to him in the morning, you thought sleepily.

~~~~~~~~~~

“I don’t want you here!” Joey yelled, pointing at the door. “We’re done, get out.”

“B-but Joey, come on stop.” Your voice trembled, your hands trembled, hell all of you trembled. While he wasn’t the biggest guy, Joey could be fucking scary sometimes, especially when it was out of the blue. “Joey, you’re being crazy.”

“I’m not being crazy, I want you out. Now!”

“What the fuck! What the fuck did I do?” You shook your head. “This is insane. Yesterday you were fine.”

He walked over and grabbed your arm roughly.

“Get the fuck off me!” You were screaming too now, screaming and crying. Your legs started to buckle. “Why Joey? Why- what do you want from me?” You started to crumple to the floor, but Joey beat you to it and shoved you against a wall. Your head flew back from the impact and you saw stars as it collided with the wood panelling. “No!” You said, starting to feel weak. His hands were shaking you, you couldn’t breathe-

You gasped as your eyes flew open and you looked around frantically. You were still in your room, in your bed, next to a very worried Joey.

“Hey, hey shhh,” he soothed. Your heart was still racing and air just wasn’t getting to your lungs fast enough. “You were screaming in your sleep. It was terrifying. I tried, but you would wake up, so I started shaking you.” Holy fuck. It was a dream. Thank god.

“Y-yeah. I umm had a bad dream.” You looked at your hands, still holding the sheets in a death grip. All you saw in his face was the icy stare as he told you he never wanted to see you again. “I’m fine though. Just go back to sleep.” You started to turn away from him, but he wrapped a hand around your chest and pulled you into him. You wanted to move away, but couldn’t bring yourself to.

“You’re clearly not fine. You’ve never done that before. Do you wanna talk about it?” He said softly. Tears welled in your eyes and you squeezed them shut in an attempt to keep them from falling. “Hey, hey?” He whispered, putting a hand and your chin and turning your head towards him. “It’s going to be okay, you’re safe. I love you.” That was it, the attempt was just that, an attempt. You sobbed quietly in his arms, pressing your face into his chest and gripping the fabric of his t-shirt.

You didn’t know how long you cried, could’ve been hours for all you knew. Eventually the tears subsided and you let Joey whisper sweet things to you and hold you close.

“You said you didn’t want me anymore.” He looked up.

“What?”

“That was the dream. You told me to go and never come back.” Grief filled his eyes.

“Oh, I’m- I’m so sorry. I- I hope you know that’s not true. I’d never do that to you. I love you, sweetheart. I-” he gestured to himself. “I don’t think I could live without you.”

“You mean it?” He nodded. “But Kate-”

“I don’t care about Kate. That was a different part of my life, a part I’m trying to leave behind. I love you, and not to be rude but, I hope you fucking know that by now.” You let out a quiet laugh.

“Hmm, I don’t think I do,” you teased. Joey raised an eyebrow.

“Oh you wanna play that game, okay.” He smiled, but it was edged with mischief. Next thing you knew he was on top of you. He propped himself up on his forearms and looked down at you, smirking. Your face flushed.

“You’re perfect.” He kissed your forehead. “You’re amazing.” He kissed both your cheeks. “You’re gorgeous.” He kissed your nose. “You’re all I’ve ever wanted.” Finally, his lips met yours. Joey was a damn good kisser, best you’ve ever had at least. Slowly, he trailed kisses along your jaw, down your neck, and across your collar bones, before sitting up and resting his hands on your hips, fingers tucked inside the waistband of your underwear.

He gave you a questioning look, he was asking for permission. You nodded and he kissed your stomach, stopping just above your underwear and glancing up at you with what was potentially the sexiest, evil smile you’ve ever seen.

He waited, placing kisses on your hip bones and leaving hickeys just below your rib cage, till you could take it anymore.

“Oh my god, fucking get on with it already.” You squirmed.

“As you wish.”


	4. Clown Beats You Up (Clown X Reader, but not really you know)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, this is kinda weird, but it was a request from a while ago and I actually found it interesting to write. Basically, Clown thinks you did something and he mad at you so he beats you up.  
> Tw: violence/abuse, blood, near death, cursing, blah blah blah  
> I just wanted to put out a disclaimer that it's all fake and Shawn's actually super nice and would never do this to anyone.

You hit the floor with a thud, the hard wood slamming into your hip bones causing you to yelp in pain. You scrambled into a seat position, scooting yourself back, away from the advancing attacker. Even under his mask you could see his cold eyes glinting with bloodlust.  
“Wha-what?” You choked out, coughing. “What the fuck, Shawn?” Shawn didn’t respond, only took another step towards you, and your heart sank as you felt the stucco wall press against your back. You were trapped.  
Trapped with this psycho who was supposed to be your friend. The psycho who was engaged to your sister as of last week.  
“Shawn- Shawn please,” you paused, catching your breath. “Shawn stop, please. Why are you doing this?” He stopped.  
“Why the fuck do you think?” He sneered.  
“What the hell are you talking about?” You yelled, immediately regretting the outburst when he crouched down to look you in the eye. The dirty rubber mask gazed back at you sending a shiver through your body. You never liked that thing, it always gave you the creeps.  
“I think you know.”  
“I have no fucking clue. Get away from me.” You flinched as he raised a hand to slap you and he chuckled.  
“I didn’t even touch you yet and you’re already terrified.”  
“Yeah no shit asshole. What are you 5’11, 180 pounds and up in my fucking face?” He blinked and something changed in his eyes.  
Before you could react, he grabbed you by the neck and dragged you behind him, choking and clawing at his large hand. Your sneakers skid over the wood floor beams and then over the concret as he dragged you outside and into the garage. Just before you were going to pass out, he flung your body in front of him and you felt your temple connect with something metal. Your back hit the floor, but you barely noticed anything except the black and white stars crossing your vision.  
Shawn grabbed your throat again and yanked you up to an unsteady standing position where he proceeded to slam your head against the metal keg you had collided with earlier. He didn’t let go, just kept pressing your now pounding skull into the cold edge.  
“Sh-Sh-Shaw-” he pulled your head away and banged it down in one quick motion. This time he released you and you felt blood gush from your nose as you collapsed. Weakly, you brought a hand to touch your face, hissing when your fingers made contact with your surely broken nose.  
“Stop, please stop,” you whispered, unable to summon any more energy. All you felt was pain, all you knew was pain. There was no concrete floor, no afternoon breeze, only Shawn’s heavy boot driving itself over and over again into your stomach.  
You felt something crack and knew it was your lower rib.  
“I’m going to die. He's going to kill me and I don’t even know what I did.” That was the only thought in your head, playing on repeat.  
“Stop,” you pleaded again, so quietly that you could barely hear it over the ringing in your ears. You curled inwards, wrapping your hands over your stomach in a feeble attempt to protect it. Shawn just switched to kicking your head. Both your eyes were black and swollen, but it wouldn’t have mattered if you could see anyway.  
Again and again, the steel toed boot stamped against your skull, your ribs, your stomach, your face, everywhere. Numbness settled in and you relaxed a little. You knew it was because you were dying, but in a strange way you were relieved. At least the pain would end.  
Somehow through your haze you heard footsteps coming closer.  
“Shawn! Shawn, you fuckhead! It was somebody else. They didn’t do it.” A warped version of Jim's voice filled your ears. You heard Shawn step away.  
“Shit, shit, shit shit, shit!” A string of curses followed. “What the fuck have I done?”  
Jim’s hand gently turned your face towards him.  
“Shit,” he whispered. “Hey, hey are you okay?” You nodded. It was true, you were ready for it to end. As your body slowly went limp, Jim shook your shoulders lightly. “No, come on. Wake up. You need to go back inside. We need to get you to a doctor.”  
“No.” You croaked. “It’s okay.” Jim said something else, but you didn’t hear him. Everything was black and quiet like cotton had filled your ears. Your last thought was your sister, your best friend, your kitten, and all the others you would miss.  
“Goodbye everyone.”  
\--------------------------  
Beep. Beep. Beep.  
Your eyes blinked open and the first thing you noticed was the smell of antiseptic and how fucking cold you were. As your vision cleared you saw a hospital room and a heart monitor next to you. Another moment and your eyes fell on a sleeping Jim in a chair that was obviously too small for him.  
“James.” You called to him, wincing at how sore your throat was. “James!” He sat up and yawned.  
“Thank fuck you’re alive. Shawn really did a number on you.” He let out a long sigh of relief.  
“Yeah, about that...what happened?”


	5. BigBrother!MickThomson *not incest*

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> BigBrother!Mick with gender neutral younger sibling  
> You go out with a friend of yours and it doesn't go well, Mick gets a chance to be a protective and sweet older brother even though he doesn't really know what to do. You are in high school and Mick is in college  
> Reader is gender neutral and of ambiguous sexuality, but the "friend" who gets a little touchy is male  
> TW: non graphic sexual (barely) assault, cursing

“Mick! I’m going out!” You yelled from the front door.  
“Where?” Mick walked out of the kitchen, eating cereal out of the box with his hands. Ew, you wrinkled your nose.  
“I’m going out with Ryan. He wanted to see the new horror movie that just came out.” You snapped your fingers trying to think of the name. “Shoot, what was it? Oh! Right it was a remake of Freddy vs. Jason. Probably gonna be awful, but whatever, he said he would pay for it.” Mick narrowed his eyes.  
“I don’t like Ryan. He’s a slimy little fucker. He gives you these weird looks behind your back,” he grumbled. “I think he likes you.” You laughed.  
“Oh shut up, Ryan doesn’t like me. Even if he does I don’t like him so it’s fine. There will be no shenanigans, I promise.” Mick just shook his head.  
“There better not be. Mom and dad are out of town which means I’m in charge and I will ground you.”  
“No you won’t.” You practically skipped out the door. “Byyyyyye.” You gave Mick a little wave. You weren’t lying when you said you didn’t like Ryan, he was just a friend, but Mick’s comment was sticking in your brain. What if he was right? You thought. What do I do then? You’d never really had a boyfriend before, or a girlfriend for that matter. All that stuff was confusing to figure out and you didn’t need it weighing you down your sophomore year.  
Ryan was waiting at the coffee shop a few blocks away. The theatre was too far to walk so he brought his car, but he said before that Mick kind of scared him and asked if it was okay to pick you up somewhere else. Of course you said yes, it wasn’t uncommon for people to be intimidated by your brother, especially when he neglected to turn on his charming side.  
You opened the door to Ryan’s blue sedan and reached over to give him a hug before sitting down and pulling out your phone.  
“You just got here and you’re already on your phone,” he joked. You looked up and flushed, embarrassed.  
“Oh yeah, umm sorry. Just have to check if my brother texted me.” You waved your phone a few times.  
“Mick? That guy?” You nodded. “He’s a little over protective of you. Your parents go away a lot?”  
“Yeah, but Mick is 20 so it’s all good. He can take care of me.” You looked out the window, watching the streets pass by on your way to the theatre. Ryan scoffed.  
“He’s kind of the world’s biggest buzzkill.”  
“Can we just, can we just stop talking about him?” This was making you uncomfortable. Why is Ryan being so weird today?  
“Yeah. Fine.” He said curtly. You spent the rest of the drive chatting about random things like school and Ryan’s soccer team. Ryan was a junior- a year older than you.  
When you arrived at the theatre, Ryan paid for the tickets and your popcorn. You told him you could’ve paid for your own snacks, but he insisted.  
“Theatre number three,” the lady at the ticket booth said.  
He was unusually touchy today. You guys were close and he often put his arm around you, but always over your shoulders. Today he put it around your waist, under your rib cage. You chalked it up to the fact that he was probably just becoming more comfortable around you and brushed it off.  
The movie was awful, but no one was expecting any better. The first Freddy vs. Jason was ridiculous. A perfect horror movie cliche where at least three girls were murdered while naked, excessive teenage party scenes happened for almost no reason, and the usual incredibly unrealistic portrayal of law enforcement. It was cheesy and over the top, and you still liked it.  
The movie was about halfway over you guessed, the teenagers had come up with the bright idea to kill two birds with one stone and get Freddy and Jason to fight each other. You leaned over to Ryan.  
“They’re such idiots. Jason can’t die, he’s basically indestructible,” you whispered to him. He laughed quietly.  
“I know. You think people in horror movies would learn by the fourth sequel, but apparently not.” You smiled. Ryan was a good friend. Mick’s comment was just getting in your head, it didn’t mean anything.  
A minute later he leaned over again.  
“You wanna come back to my house after this?”  
“Umm, I’m not sure. I might have to check with Mick, but if he says yes then yeah okay.” Ryan muttered something about Mick and you turned to him.  
“What did you say?”  
“Nothing, just watch the movie.” You shrugged. He’s being so weird. Mick probably scared him.  
With your eyes glued to the screen following Jason’s knife slash across people’s chests you shivered, but it wasn’t from the blood. Ryan had slid his hand into your lap, right over your knee. You took a deep breath. It’s fine, it’s okay. It’s just my knee. He was making you uncomfortable, but you didn’t want to offend your ride home. At least not yet if you could help it.  
You chewed the inside of your lip, ignoring the feeling that made you want to run away. Somehow, Ryan’s hand was nearly at the top of your thigh now, and curving inwards. His thumb was moving back and forth leaving what felt like a burning trail across your leg, even through your jeans.  
It was too much. You stood up hastily ignoring the glare from the woman sitting behind you.  
“I have to use the bathroom, I’ll be right back.” Without waiting for a response, you walked away as fast as you could, earning some weird looks from other people in the theatre.  
You didn’t go to the bathroom. Instead you stood outside, leaning against the wall and catching your breath. Mick was right, but you made fun of him for thinking Ryan was bad news. You certainly couldn’t tell him now that he was right. You reached into your pocket for your phone. Maybe I should still ask him to pick me up. You didn’t really feel like seeing Ryan anymore. I’ll talk to him on Monday. At school. In public.  
Your relief was short lived when you saw Ryan turn the corner and head straight for you.  
“Hey, what’s up?” He laughed. “You totally bailed on me in there.” You had two options, tell him the truth, or act like nothing happened. You chose the latter.  
“Oh you know, just got scared. Needed a breather.” He raised an eyebrow.  
“You sure? You’re the one who called me a pussy after I said the exorcist was scary.” Crap.  
“Eh, I don’t know. Maybe it’s scarier in the theatre.”  
“That makes sense.” Ryan was smiling, but there was something in his eyes that was off putting, almost predatory. “You know, if you’re scared I can protect you. We can go back in there, I’ll hold your hand if you want?”  
“Umm no that’s okay. I’ll be fine.”  
“Let’s go then.” You didn’t move. “Come on.” He grabbed your hand. “What’s your damage I said let’s go.” You nodded and took a deep breath, letting him lead you back towards the theatre. He tugged you closer by your hand and put his arm around your waist. You gritted your teeth.  
“Ryan can you stop?” You mumbled.  
“Stop what?”  
“Stop touching me, please.” He just curled his fingers tighter around your hip.  
“Oh come on, I’m barely touching you. Fuckin’ buzzkill, this is what you wanted isn’t it?” He scoffed.  
“Wha- Ryan I never said that.” You tried to pull away.  
“Maybe you never said it, but you wanted it.”  
“No,” you said tightly. “I don’t want it.” The bastard just shrugged. “Let go Ryan, please.” He glanced at you before moving his hand on your hip to the back pocket of your jeans. You shoved him away and he stumbled back a few steps.  
“Fuck off. I’m going home.” Ryan smirked and grabbed your arm as you attempted to walk past him. “Let go!” He pushed you back against the wall, using his body to cage you in. “Ryan, someone’s going to see!”  
“Yeah, but they won’t care.” Your heart sank; he was probably right. Ryan used your temporary shock to grab your jaw and pull your face towards him, practically slamming his lips against yours. You froze, like your body needed a moment to process how much you hated this.  
After what you assumed was a rush of adrenaline, you shoved him away as hard as you could and bolted for the exit of the theatre. You ran out and down the street, until your lungs felt like they were on fire and you doubled over trying to breathe and wipe the tears out of your eyes.  
You looked around, paranoid, but didn’t see him anywhere. Time to start walking home. You crossed your arms over your chest, hunching your shoulders. I want to disappear. The way home was familiar, but that didn’t make it any shorter, especially when you were crying and miserable.  
What if he was right? What if he did think I asked for it? It’s my fault then. You sniffled.  
Ozzy Osbourne’s Crazy Train started blaring through your phone, and despite how shitty you felt, you laughed a little. Making that song your brother’s ringtone still made you laugh even after give or take three years. You wiped your eyes and your nose, clearing your throat in an attempt to sound like you hadn’t just been crying.  
“H-hey Mick, what’s up?”  
“Where are you? You said you would text me when you were on your way home.” He sounded angry. Nope, definitely not telling him anything now.  
“Yeah, I’m on my way home right now.”  
“How far are you? I wanna get dinner, but I’ll wait til you get here.”  
“Don’t wait, I’m kinda far away.”  
“How far? It’s only a twenty minute drive max.”  
“Umm, I'm not driving. I’m walking and I’m probably halfway, so maybe half an hour?” He didn’t say anything for a long time. “Mick? You still there?”  
“I’m gonna kick his ass. Why are you walking? He said he was going to drive you home.”  
“It’s nothing. Ryan just- he had to go home, family emergency or something.” You swallowed involuntarily.  
“I’m gonna come pick you up, what street are you on?” Shit!  
“No, that’s okay, I don’t mind walking.” Your deflection was strained.  
“Yeah, no. What street?”  
“Mick I swear, it’s fine.” It was not fine. You were starting to worry that if Mick kept pushing, you would lose it and start crying again.  
“No-”  
“Mick I gotta go, bye.” You cut him off and hung up. He meant well, but sometimes your brother could be pushy. You know it was because he cared about you, but sometimes he could be a little aggressive about it.  
It was cold and your jacket was starting to feel a little thin. Fuck Ryan, I hate him. You looked up at the street sign, rubbing your hands up and down your arms to generate warmth. Ugh, you lied to Mick. You weren’t half way. The sky was overcast and the worry that it would rain crossed your mind.  
“Great, just great.” You said flatly. At least it was fairly quiet, so you had some time to think.  
Your peace was cut short a minute later by a loud motor and a car skidding to a stop directly in front of you.  
“What the fuck Mick! You almost hit me!” He rolled his eyes.  
“I did not, I’m a great driver. Now get in.” You shook your head. “I’m serious.”  
“No, I want to walk.”  
“Well, I don’t want you to walk, so get in,” he pressed.  
“Fuck off.” You kept walking, holding up your middle finger behind you.  
“Jellybean!” You stopped dead in your tracks, your face heating.  
“Don’t call me that I’m not five anymore.” You shot Mick a death glare.  
“Well, you’re acting like it.”  
“Fuck you.”  
“Do I have to keep calling you Jellybean or are you going to get in the car?” You weighed your options. He already knew you were upset, so there wasn’t much of a point in hiding now, and you didn’t really want to walk home. You spun slowly on your heel, holding out both middle fingers as you walked around to the passenger side of the car.  
“Seatbelt, Jellybean.”  
“Fuck you, you’re acting like dad.” The rest of the drive was spent in silence. You had your arms crossed over your chest and stared out the window, facing Mick now felt impossible.  
At home, you tried to storm off to your room, but Mick wasn’t having it.  
“Sit on the couch and tell me what happened.”  
“Nothing happ-”  
“That’s bullshit. I’ve known you your whole life. I can tell when you’re lying.” You walked away and sat on the couch, pulling your legs up and wrapping your arms around your knees.  
“I don’t have to tell you anything.”  
“Was it Ryan?” Your eyes widened. “So it was Ryan. I knew it.”  
“How did you-” Mick just shook his head.  
“Look, I just want to help. Whatever happened you’re clearly pissed off about it and I would just like to know the full story before I go break every bone in his body.”  
“Please don’t do that.” It was barely a whisper. “He was just being a jerk.” Mick’s eyebrow raised. “He tried to kiss me and got kinda mad when I didn’t want to.” Mick looked down at his hands. You could tell he didn’t know what to say.  
“Are you okay?” he finally said, his voice sounded different. It wavered slightly. You nodded.  
“I mean, physically yeah. Mentally, more like meh.” You shrugged.  
“Is there anything I can do?” You shook your head. “You should tell mom when she gets back.”  
“Yeah, that’s a good idea.” There was a moment of awkward silence. He didn’t push it anymore and you were grateful for that.  
“You hungry?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Get over here, let's order a pizza.” You stood up and plopped down next to him on the couch, leaning against his broad shoulder. He gave you a side hug and grabbed his phone. “What do you want Jellybean?”  
“I wanna fucking kill you.”


	6. Kitten Shenanigans (Chris X Reader)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You are dating Chris and he comes home drunk one day with a kitten. Ergo, shenanigans. It's very sweet though, very fluffy.  
> Trigger warnings: alcohol, cursing

You heard the door to your apartment open and close quietly, like whoever was entering was trying their best to be sneaky. You rolled your eyes. There was only one person it could be at this hour. You quickly finished typing out an email to your boss before hitting send and walking out of your room.  
Chris was passed out on the couch, probably drunk off his ass. He had his mask on for some reason, so you guessed he went out with the guys. You pulled his mask off his face to let him breathe. His face was red and he was sweating.  
“Hey, hey nose boy,” you whispered, patting his face. He opened his eyes and looked up.  
“You’re hot.” His words were slurred.  
“Thanks, okay come on get up.”  
“What?” he groaned.  
“Come on we gotta get you to bed.” He just rolled over and smushed his face into a pillow.  
“No, I wanna st-stay here.”  
“Jesus christ, how drunk are you?” You grabbed his hand and started tugging him up to a seated position. He yawned.  
“It was like I don’t know maybe three.” You looked him up and down.  
“Yeah that’s a lie. Let’s go.” You hooked his arm over your shoulder and half dragged, half carried him to your room. He flopped on the bed, in the dead center mind you, and curled into fetal position.  
“G’night.”  
“‘Night idiot.” You kissed his cheek and pulled off his shoes, setting them to the side of the bed. He was snoring before you made it back to the living room. You grabbed his mask and put it on the bookshelf. He would have a conniption if it got damaged. It’d be all his fault though for not taking care of it.  
You turned around to grab his backpack and heard a noise. What the fuck was that? It sounded like some sort of squeak. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Chris’s backpack move.  
I’m going to kill him. If it is some sort of squirrel or rat, I’m kicking his ass out of our goddamned apartment. You tentatively approached the backpack, holding a rolled up magazine just in case. You used the magazine to prod open the main pocket and your jaw dropped.  
It was not a squirrel. It was not a rat. It was the cutest goddamn kitten you had ever seen. It was so tiny. Small, and grey, with big green eyes and white dipped paws.  
I’m going to fucking kill him. We can’t have a kitten, but he knows I won’t get rid of a kitten, so I guess we have a kitten now. The bastard found my weakness.  
You rubbed your fingertips together and approached it carefully, making the pss pss pss sound.  
“C’mere kitty. It’s going to be alright. I’m not going to hurt you.” You could have sworn the kitten gave you a skeptical look, before coming forward and sniffing your hand.  
“That’s it, that’s a good gir-” You stopped. You didn’t know if it was a girl or a boy. Not that it mattered, you would love them anyways. Once it got close enough you picked it up and held it close to your chest. Feeling it’s fur you discovered a small blue collar with a tag. The tag read: Rocky Fehn, born July 23rd, sex: M. So it was a boy, and it was only three months old.  
Your heart squeezed. I’m in love. I love him. He’s perfect. And you weren’t talking about Chris. Speaking of Chris, you needed to talk to him in the morning about not bringing home small animals he knew you couldn’t let go of.  
“Welp Rocky, in the morning we’re going to talk to your daddy and I’m going to tell him he’s an idiot.” You whispered. “You got lucky though because you’re so damn cute.”  
You grabbed Chris’s sweatshirt off the couch and wrapped it around Rocky. In your room Chris was still smack dab in the middle of the bed and trapped in the deep sleep that only came with excessive alcohol consumption. Ugh, you rolled your eyes.  
“I’m really mad at him Rocky.” His eyes widened almost like he was concerned. “No no, shh, don’t worry, it’s all okay. Your daddy and I are very much in love, but sometimes people who are in love do things that annoy each other, like buy kittens when their apartment has a no pet policy.” You stopped and looked up.  
Am I talking in third person to a cat? Okayyy, now I’ve really lost it. Time to figure out what happened. You grabbed your phone off the coffee table and put Rocky on the kitchen counter while dialling.  
“Mmh hey, what’s up?” Shawn said sleepily. You grabbed the milk out of the fridge and a bowl to put it in.  
“Were you with Chris tonight?” You put the milk in the bowl and Rocky started drinking it with such cute little licks. You felt like a living version of those anime girls who get heart eyes when looking at their crushes.  
“Uhh, yeah. Why?”  
“I have a cat now.” Silence on the other end. “Chris brought home a cat.”  
“Listen I don't know anything about that. He went to the pet store with Sid and they were both wasted. I’m surprised they let him take home a live being.”  
“Jesus christ, oh well. He’s smart, you know. Somewhere in his drunk mind he knew I wouldn’t be able to get rid of Rocky.”  
“His name’s Rocky?”  
“Yeah, I don’t know if Chris picked it though.”  
“That’s cute. It was probably Sid, he likes that movie.”  
“Yeah probably. Anyways, I gotta go now. Thanks for picking up so late.”  
“No problem," Shawn coughed. "Go easy on him though. He was going on last night about how much he loved you for like half an hour. I don’t know if he did it to annoy us on purpose, but he succeeded. It’s very possible Sid took him to get a cat to make him shut up.” You laughed.  
“Night Shawn.”  
“Night Fehn.” He hung up. You blushed, you weren’t necessarily opposed to people calling you Fehn. It felt weird though. You weren’t married to Chris, but you’d been together for a while and people just started calling you that. You didn’t know if you wanted to marry Chris. What you did know was that now was not the time and you didn’t want to think about it yet.  
You turned on the TV and watched with Rocky until your eyes would barely stay open.  
“Come on Rocky, let’s go. Time for bed.” He scampered down the hall and into your room. When you got there, finally Chris had moved to his side of the bed, but so had Rocky. They were snuggling together and it was the sweetest thing you’ve ever seen.  
After washing up and changing into pyjamas, you climbed in bed and nudged Chris. He opened one eye.  
“Hmm?” He said. You scooted closer to him.  
“I’m not mad at you.”  
“For what?” He mumbled.  
“Nevermind.” You picked up Rocky and put him in between you. Chris grabbed your hand and held it close to him.  
“Don’t kill me. I love you.” You laughed.  
“It’s fine, well not completely, but it's okay. We’ll talk about it in the morning.” He nodded. “Love you.”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
By the time you woke up, Chris was already out of bed. It was Sunday thank god, but then you remembered there was some stuff you needed to do to get ready for the week.  
After putting on some sweatpants and brushing your teeth you walked out to meet Chris in the living room. He looked like hell. There were dark circles under his eyes and his forehead was creased with worry lines. At first he didn’t say anything, just passed you a mug of coffee. You took a sip, it was just how you liked it. Your heart warmed, he remembered. No matter how long you’d been with Chris, the little sweet things he did always felt special. You never numbed to his affection.  
“I’m sorry.” His voice was scratchy, like he’d been yelling. If you had to guess, it was probably at Sid. You didn’t say anything, just put your arms around him till you felt him relax.  
“It’s fine. Rocky’s cute. I was mad for like five minutes.” You smiled at him and his eyes softened. “What on earth were you thinking though? How much of this was Sid and how much was you?” Chris just shook his head.  
“You don’t wanna know. He may wake up with more kittens than we did.”  
“That’s gonna work out just great. The one thing Sid needs is tiny, crazy fluff balls with small knives for fingernails.”  
A meow came from the living room and Rocky ran over and jumped onto the counter into Chris’s arms.  
“Aww so cute.”  
“Me or him?” Chris said with a grin.  
“Both.”


	7. Sid Asks You to be his Wedding Date (Sid X Reader)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sid's cousin is getting married and he asks you to come with him. He assures you it's purely platonic, but after shopping for what clothes to wear, you aren't so sure ;) I just wanted to give Sid some love because he gets the short end of the stick in almost all the other ones  
> Trigger warnings: cursing, implied smut/PG-13 teaser, i think that's it  
> Not as fluffy as some of the other ones  
> It's kinda short, but I was thinking of doing a part two.  
> Also there are some jokes about Corey's relationships and if you guys think they're crossing a line please let me know.

“Oh hey Sid what’s up?”

“Hey, so I have a favor to ask.” He sounded hesitant even over the phone.

“Okayyyy? Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, yeah don’t worry it’s totally fine. You don’t even have to say yes, I mean you can if you want, but don’t feel any pres-”

“Sidney, Sidney, calm down. Take a deep breath.” You heard him suck in a big breath of air, and let it out a moment later sounding more distressed than before. “Tell me what’s up.”

“Well, so my cousin’s getting married and you know, Moira, the one who lives in New York.”

“Yeah you’ve talked about her before. You guys are close right?”

“Yes, and I have to go to the wedding.”

“Oh sounds fun, are you gonna get a tux?” You laughed at the idea of Sid in a tuxedo, something about it just didn’t sound right, like when people make kittens and puppies wear Halloween costumes.

“Ew, no. What I called to ask was…”

“Come on, spit it out already.”

“That’s what she said.” He coughed under his breath.

“If you don’t start talking right now, I’m going to hang up.”

“Okay, okay. Please don't hang up, because if you hang up then I have to call Corey and then people are going to think weird things about me.”

“What the fuck is that suppoed to mean?”

“I need you to be my date,” he blurted out.

“Why didn’t you just say so in the first place? Of course I’ll be your date.” He let out a sigh of relief on the other end. “That would be funny though if you went with Corey. I know you just need a friend, but people would definitely make assumptions. You know on second thought, maybe he should come with us. Then people would really freak out. Do you get a plus two or only plus one?”

“Shut up. It’s only a plus one.”

“So if it wasn’t you’d be down?”

“No that’s not what I’m saying.” He sounded kind of pissed off. Yikes, you thought. Maybe I hit a nerve.

“Okay, okay, chill. I’ll stop. But seriously are you going to get a tux? If you are I should probably come with you. I know this isn’t exactly your area of expertise.”

“Pfft, it’s not yours either.”

“Well, whatever, it’s more fun if we go together. Speaking of which, what should I wear? Is there a dress code or..”

“I don’t give a shit what you wear. Wear a suit or a dress, whatever, just not white. I’ve heard that’s bad.”

“You heard right. That’s a big no-no when it comes to weddings. It’s basically a threat.”

“Hmm, very interesting.” You could practically hear Sid stroking a metaphorical beard. “Next time Corey gets married, you will help me pick out a white suit.” You burst out laughing.

“I think that’s only a bride thing.”

“Oh. Well, whatever. I’m sure there’s something I can wear to piss off Corey.”

“I think that’s a very long list.” You took a sip from your water bottle.

“Perfect. What’s your opinion of me in a neon green speedo?” You nearly shrieked, the thought of Sid in a neon green speedo was so funny you had to clap your hand over your mouth to keep water from spraying everywhere.

“Great timing Sid. I spit out my water.”

“Great timing indeed. So, shopping?”

“Tomorrow afternoon okay?”

“Yep, see you then.”

“Bye, love ya.” You made a kiss noise and then hung up.

Well, that was interesting. You grabbed your laptop and began trying to figure out what to wear. You couldn’t lie to yourself, the idea of being Sid’s date was kind of cute. I mean you guys were great friends, but...You shook your head. Nope, not going down that rabbit hole.

~~~~~~

The next day, you were sitting outside the pretzel stand at the local mall waiting for Sid to show up. He was late, so you went and got a snack. You heard a whistle and saw Sid waving from a few stores away.

“You’re late.” You said, grabbing him into a side hug.

“Is that any way to treat your wedding date?”

“You make it sound like we’re the ones getting married.” Sid raised his eyebrows.

“I did not. Get your mind out of the gutter.” You rolled your eyes.

“You wanna go there?” You point to a formal event store.

“Sounds good.” As you were walking over Sid leaned in and said, “guess what?”

“What?” He hooked his thumb into the waistband of his pants, folding it down and revealing neon green underwear.

“Oh gross.”

“Hey,” he held up his hands defensively. “That’s the best I could do on short notice.”

“You bought neon green underwear? Sid, we don’t know how long it will be till Corey gets married again.”

“It might have-” he wiggled his eyebrows. “Other uses.”

“What the fuck Sidney? What the actual fuck?” He just grinned at you. “Did I ask? Did I fucking ask about your sex life and how it related to that horendous underwear?”

“I mean, you kinda did.” Shit, he was right.

“Whatever. Let’s just behave for a second, this is a nice store.”

“I am always well behaved.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

Damn, you two looked good. Neither of you really wore fancy outfits often, so it was slightly weird and cool at the same time to see yourselves all cleaned up. You even coordinated outfits. Sid’s tie matched your shirt.

“You’re breathtaking Sidney,” you said with a laugh.

“Likewise.” He tugged down his pants just a little, so a strip of neon green showed through.

“You better not do that at the wedding. I don’t know how nice Moira is, but if you embarrass her and she doesn’t kick your ass, I will do it myself.”

“Cross my heart and hope to die.” He drew an X over his heart. You shook your head.

“Whatever you say. Come on let's get out of here.” You walked back to the dressing rooms, but one of the two was occupied.

“You wanna go first?” You offered.

“Just come in with me. It’s fine. It’s not like there’s much I haven’t seen before.” Your eyes widened and you opened your mouth to say something, but he cut you off holding up a hand. “Swimming I mean. When we’ve gone swimming.” Oh okay, that sounds right. You nodded.

You grabbed your clothes which you had left in a small pile near the dressing rooms. Inside you and Sid had your backs to each other, but there was still a large mirror on the side. You just ignored it and stripped to your underwear. Reaching for your jeans on the floor, your eyes caught Sid’s in the mirror. He was staring at you.

You gave him a warning glance, turning around to tell him off, but you didn’t get the chance.

Sid grabbed your hand and pulled you in, kissing you eagerly, urgently. Goddamn, how long had he been planning this? You gave in, suddenly aware this was something you very much wanted. You hooked your arms behind his neck and drew him closer, your bare chests flush to each other.

Finally, he pulled away, breathing heavily. Neither of you moved for a second until you felt his hands move away from your hips, and squeeze your butt. He broke into a smile.

“That was fun. You have a nice butt.” He started to break away, but you wouldn’t let him.

“No, come back.” He gave an exaggerated sigh, but his massive smirk gave him away.

“If you're really gonna twist my arm like that.” You blushed.

To be continued….maybe


	8. Boyfriend!Jim and BigBrother!Mick (Jim X Reader)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So as the CEO of pandering to my audience I tried to kill two birds with one stone and write more ProtectiveBrother!Mick. He's more annoying in this one though.
> 
> Summary: You and Jim have been dating behind Mick's back and he finds out and gets a little mad. It's not my best and kinda cliche, but it's still cute.
> 
> I might do a part two because I did write more than this but I wasn't happy with it so I cut it short.  
> Trigger warnings: cursing, implied smut, unidentified age gap (you are smol [19])

“Wait, wait, wait, slow down. What if Mick finds us?” Jim pulled away from you, panting slightly and rubbing the back of his neck. He looked up and down the hallway of the recording studio where you were using a bookshelf filled with records to block any wandering eyes.  
“He won’t, don’t worry. He suspects nothing and he doesn’t even know I’m here yet.” You looked up at Jim, tugging on his shirt sleeve. He smiled and the familiar feeling of butterflies returned to your stomach.  
“Mick is gonna kick my ass when he finds out.”  
“If. If he finds out. Also you’re not the one he's going to lock in their room for all eternity and never let out of his sight.’  
“Good point. In that case I will come throw pebbles at your window.” You laughed and poked his bicep playfully.  
“You see this? This is a very strong arm from playing guitar and jumping around on stage with said over protective brother. I am genuinely worried you will break my window and then we’ll both be dead.”  
“Then we’ll just have to not get caught.” He leaned down and kissed you, but when he stood back up you motioned for him to bend back down. He was six foot seven, the height difference was noticeable to say the least.  
“I wasn’t done,” you gave him a pointed look. Jim broke into a smile, he thought it was cute when you were a little needy sometimes.  
“My neck hurts all the time. I’m going to buy you a step stool.”  
“Seriously? I thought we were done with those jokes.” You clasped your hands behind his neck, partially to keep yourself upright and partially to keep him from moving away.  
“I will never be done with those jokes, angel.” You blushed furiously at the pet name.  
“Just shut up and kiss me, James.” He complied. You let out a quiet giggle. Jim was way too good at making you feel awkward and blushy like in middle school again. “Mmm, you’re hot.”  
“I know,” he said coolly. You rolled your eyes.  
“Someone’s confident today.” You unclasped your hands and put them on his waist, sliding your fingers inside the waistband of his jeans.  
“You are just asking to get caught, aren’t you?” He smirked.  
“Maybe I am. Maybe sneaking around is kinda fun. Maybe hiding from Mick is exciting.”  
“Maybe for you. I have to constantly worry if he’s going to cut off my dick when he finds out.” You looked down, unbuttoning his jeans.  
“He’s not going to find out.”  
“I’m not going to find out what?” Mick’s deep voice boomed down the empty hallway. You nearly jumped out of your skin. Jim subtly zipped up his pants.  
“Fuck,” you muttered under your breath, backing up and leaning against Jim. He leaned down and whispered in your ear.  
“What was it you were saying about not getting caught?”  
“Shut up.”  
“What do you think you’re doing?” Mick demanded.  
“Uhh me or him?” You pointed between yourself and your boyfriend.  
“Both.” He pointed at you. “You, here, now.” You obeyed, but glared at him.  
“Why are you being such a dick about this? You know Jim, he’s a good guy.”  
“Exactly. I do know Jim, that’s the problem.”  
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”  
“Nothing, we’re leaving.” He grabbed your arm, firmly but not enough to hurt. You gave up, trailing behind him as he nearly stomped away.  
“Mick, you’re being insane.” He spun around and looked you straight in the eyes.  
“No, I’m not.” He shook his head. “I don’t want you seeing him anymore.” You shoved his chest.  
“You don’t control me. Yeah, I know he’s your friend, but I’m 19 now. I’m a grown-ass adult so back off.” Mick scoffed.  
“No you’re not.” He pulled his phone and dialed a number quickly. You heard the other person pick up. “Jim, it’s Mick. Stay the fuck away from my family.” Your jaw dropped.  
“Mick you can’t do this. It’s crazy!”  
“I just did. Now get in the car we’re going home.”  
“Fuck you,” you muttered under your breath. When you got home you ran to your room and locked the door.  
Why is he being such an asshole?! Fuck it, you thought and dialed Jim on your phone. It went to voicemail. You threw your phone down on the bed, rubbing your hands across your face. This is so fucked. Mick had no right to tell you to stay away from Jim, but on the other hand, it made sense that Jim would respect his wishes. Probably not the best idea to piss off your band member by dating their younger sibling. Still fucking sucked though.  
You heard some birds chirping outside your window and an idea struck you. You walked to the window and peered out onto the sidewalk. There was overhang from the porch on the first floor and it would be easy to climb out the window and slide across. The problem was how to get down from there. It wasn’t a very far jump, but the only support was a column you could grab onto.  
You shook your head. This is insane. You opened the window and started easing yourself out and onto the roof. The whole thing felt incredibly cliche, sneaking out of your own house to see your boyfriend because your brother who just happened to his best friend wouldn’t let you. What has my life come to, you thought.  
Your legs dangled over the edge. It looked a lot higher up close. Fuck it. You climbed down and took off running. After you made it to the end of the block and were sure there was no way Mick could see you, you slowed down and pulled out your phone, panting as your fingers frantically typed a text to Joey.  
\- hi, mick is being a dickhead can i come over? You kept walking, you knew the way to Joey’s house and there wasn’t much of a chance he would say no. Your phone pinged. \- yea sure coreys here too  
Perfect.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
You got to Joey’s house and Corey answered the door, looking confused.  
“Hey?”  
“Oh sorry hi, Joey didn’t tell you?” Corey shook his head. “Oh umm I texted him and he said I could come over…” You trailed off and attempted to discreetly look past him into the house. “I can come back later if you want?”  
“No, no it’s cool. Come on in.” He stepped aside to let you pass by.  
“Thanks.” You spotted Joey on the couch and nearly ran over.  
“Hey, what’s up?” he asked, looking amused at your slightly chaotic state.  
“Mick’s being an asshole.” You huffed as you sat next to Joey, Corey awkwardly taking a seat at the other end of the couch. Did I take his spot? Whoops.  
“What did he do now? Every damn week it’s something new with you two.” You opened your mouth to start telling the story, but stopped when you remembered they probably didn’t know about Jim. You swallowed and took a deep breath.  
“So uhh, Jim and I have been seeing each other for a minute and-” Corey’s mouth twitched upwards into a smile. “What?”  
“Nothing, I just, Jim told me already.”  
“Oh, what did he say?” He raised an eyebrow.  
“You wanna know?” You nodded, was it that bad? “He said he liked you, that he’s liked you for a while, but didn’t say anything because a: he thought Mick was going to react exactly how he just reacted, and b: because he thought you weren’t interested.”  
“So he told you what happened this morning?” You pressed. Corey nodded. “Yeah that was kind of a shit show.”  
“He said another minute and Mick would have walked in on you with your hand down Jim’s pants.” You blushed. He wasn’t wrong.  
“Yep, that’s what happened.” You said with a wry smile. “And now I will never see him again.”  
“Don’t exaggerate, Mick will come around.” You exchanged a glance with Joey.  
“No he won’t,” you said at nearly the exact same time. Corey chuckled.  
“So little faith, so little faith.”  
“Anyways, will one of you call Jim for me? I need to call and apologize, but he’s not picking up.”  
“Sure,” Joey shrugged. “I can ask him to come over here if you want?”  
“I mean, is that okay?” You perked up. He nodded. “Then yeah, that would be great actually thank you.” Joey walked off to call Jim and you stared somewhat awkwardly at Corey. You were on good terms and everything, just not exactly friends.  
“You know there’s a reason Mick doesn’t want you with Jim.”  
“What?” You asked. This was new.  
“Yeah, there was this situation with a girl a while back. Jim didn’t handle it as gracefully as he could have.” You cocked your head. “Jim’s older than you, by a decent amount actually and there was a period of time where he was planning on getting married.” Oh. You straightened. He never mentioned that.  
“Basically it ended up being her or Slipknot and he chose Slipknot.”  
“Okay.” That’s not that bad.  
“It wasn’t that simple.” You waited expectantly. “There’s more, but it’s his story to tell, not mine. Just know Mick has a reason for being crazy.” He smiled to himself and cleared his throat. “Sorry, excuse me. He has a specific reason for being crazy about this specific thing. He has no reason for being crazy about everything else.”  
“Damn right.” You laughed. Joey came back with his phone in his hand.  
“Jim’s gonna be here in twenty minutes minutes.”  
“Great-”  
“I didn’t tell him you were here.”  
~~~~~~~~  
By the time the doorbell rang (twenty two minutes later mind you) your nails were bitten down to the skin and your fingers wouldn’t stop tapping. You needed to move, you wanted to run, but it was way too late for that. You saw Jim’s tall shadow in the doorway and tried to calm your pounding heart.  
What if he’s mad I tricked him into coming here? What if he decided it wasn’t worth it?  
He walked into the living room and his eyes landed on you curled up in an armchair. You gave him a small smile and waved. He looked at Joey and raised his eyebrows. Joey just shrugged. Thanks a lot.  
Jim walked over and sat next to you. He didn’t say anything at first and it scared you a little.  
“James?” You said hesitantly. He turned and you saw that his eyes looked tired. You opened your mouth, but no words came out, for once not knowing what to say. You looked down at your hands, it must be worse for him. Mick was his best friend, and he’d made it clear that Jim should stay away.  
“This was a mistake.” You said bitterly, grabbing your jacket and heading for the door.  
“You leaving?” Joey asked.  
“Yeah.” You were slightly out of breath, your anxiety had exploded when Jim seemed so detached.  
“You want a ride?”  
“Yeah, that’d be great actually.” Joey grabbed his car keys and jacket off a table inside and jerked his head for you to follow him to the car.  
“Wait,” Jim’s voice came from behind you, followed by footsteps. “Go inside Joey. I’ll do it.” You glared at Joey and he held up his hands defensively as if to say “this is not my business so I’m just going to do what he says.”  
“See ya,” he said politely and waved before going back inside.  
“After you.” Jim gestured towards his car, unlocking it with a click. What the fuck does he want? You climbed into the passenger’s side, staring out the window. It was silent for a moment, you kept expecting him to start the car, but he never did.  
“Listen, I- I owe you an apology,” he started. You sighed.  
“No you don’t. You didn’t do anything.” The corner of his lips shifted up into a half smile.  
“No, definitely not. I just went behind the back of whom some might call my best friend, so I could date the one person he didn’t want me to date.” He said it so seriously you couldn’t help but laugh.  
“Mmm, okay maybe you did do something.” You reached over and put your hand over his on top of the gear shift. “Just a little something.”  
“Yeah, you,” he chuckled. Your face flushed.  
“Whatever.” You took off your seatbelt and leaned over the armrest, putting your hand on Jim’s cheek and pulling him in for a kiss. It had only been a few hours, but somehow you’d found a way to miss him. “So,” you said as you moved back to your seat. “Wanna go make Mick mad again?”


	9. College Friends with Paul (Paul X Reader platonically)- so far ;)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Honestly I don't know where this went. I was really nervous because I wanted Paul's first one shot to be awesome, but I don't feel like I lived up to that. Oh well. I'll do better next time. It's still kinda cute anyways.  
> Basically you and Paul meet in Intro to Psych your freshman year and hit it off immediately. You guys bond over music and studying. So far only platonic, if I do a part two I'll expand.  
> Reader is mostly gender neutral, but I accidentally gave you a female roommate so uhh sorry, there wasn't really a way around that. Also I'm not doing that cheesy "your name" shit. It's just a blank space.  
> It kinda has no plot, but I don't know what to tell ya  
> Trigger warnings: Cursing

The professor was setting up for the lecture, her high heels clicking on the linoleum floor as she walked back and forth. You cringed, the thought of standing all day in heels seemed infinitely unpleasant. You dug through your backpack, pulling out the textbook and your computer to take notes. It was the last class of the day on your first day of college, freshman year.  
It was so exciting. Everything was new and different and it was a breath of fresh goddamn air to actually choose what you wanted to study. You looked around. People said Intro to Psych was a popular class, and they were right. The lecture room was big and still it was almost full.  
You looked up at the clock, class started two minutes ago and people were still arriving.  
“Hey, is someone sitting here?” A tall, dark haired boy with two lip piercings wearing a beanie pointed to the chair next to you.  
“No, it’s empty.”  
“Perfect.” He dropped his backpack and sat down. “I’m Paul.” He held out his hand and you shook it. His skin was rough against yours, heavily calloused. Your curiosity peaked.  
“It’s very nice to meet you Paul, I’m _____.” He smiled and you couldn’t help but smile back. His energy was infectious.  
“What year are you?”  
“Freshmen, you?”  
“Sophomore, but I’m a transfer so we’re basically in the same boat.” You nodded. At the front of the room the professor clapped her hands.  
“Okay, it’s time to get started.” The professor said, turning the lights off and the projector on.  
“Hey, do you have a pen?” Paul whispered.  
“Yes, but seriously? It’s the first goddamn day.”  
“I have a very specific system. I only carry one pen around at a time so I don’t have to give people pens because they never return them. Today I just happen to have lost it.”  
“Whatever you say.” You passed him a blue ballpoint pen.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Halfway through the lecture Paul leaned over to you. He smelled good, like smoke and something warm and woodsy. You bet he didn’t even try either, just took care of himself and things worked out that way.  
“Wait what day did she say was the first quiz?”  
“Friday,” you whispered.  
“Fuck, that’s evil. We just fucking got here.” He cursed under his breath, then glanced up as if he remembered you were there and his face flushed slightly. “Sorry.”  
“No, it’s cool. I don’t mind. You wanna study together? For the quiz I mean.”  
“Yeah, sounds great. What dorm building are you in? I’m in C.” Paul smiled, his expression reading somewhere between excited and relieved.  
“Oh no way, me too!” A few heads turned in your direction and you lowered your voice to a whisper. “What floor?”  
“Three.”  
“Damn, I’m on four. We’re still pretty close though. That’s nice.” Paul nodded in agreement.  
“Yeah, how about Wednesday? This is our last class on Wednesdays anyways,” he suggested.  
“Awesome. I’ll look forward to it.”  
You and Paul spent the rest of the class whispering to each other. Sometimes along the lines of “what on god’s green earth did she just say, serotonin what?” Other times it was more “that reminds me of the time my cousin got wasted and fell in a pool at a wedding reception.” Every now and then someone would shoot a glare at the two of you, the professor being no exception.  
“You know what Paul?”  
“What?”  
“I wasn’t going to take this class. It’s an extra for me. I’m studying to be a journalist so I don’t need it, but I’m really glad I did.”  
“Why?” He gave you a goofy smile.  
“I gotta spell it out for you?” He nodded, clearly enjoying this. “You, dumbass.” You poked his arm. “I’m glad I met you.”  
~~~~~~~~~  
You and Paul exchanged phone numbers at the end of the class and you ran to catch up with your roommate, Lia.  
“Hey, gorgeous. How’d it go? You weren’t super jazzed about psych this morning. Still think that?” She pulled you into a side hug.  
“Oh it was cool.” You said somewhat absentmindedly. She raised an eyebrow at you.  
“Cool? Just cool.”  
“Umm yeah.”  
“If it was just “cool,” she airquoted. “Then why’d you come out of there smiling like someone just offered to pay your tuition?” Your face turned red. Oh. Right. Paul.  
“Well, I uhh made a friend.”  
“What’s her name? Maybe I know her.”  
“His name’s Paul and he’s a second year transfer.” She looked a little surprised, but brushed it off quickly.  
“Oh fun. You wanna get some food and you can tell me about him?” She jerked her thumb in the direction of the coffee shop.  
“Good idea, I’m about to fall asleep.” Lia grabbed her bag from a bench and you started walking to the cafe.  
“So,” She said wickedly. “You like him or...?”  
~~~~~~~~  
Wednesday arrived and you were standing outside Paul’s dorm, laden with textbooks and handouts the professor had given you. You knocked and texted him that you were outside, but it had already been a few minutes and he still hadn’t answered. You shifted the books from one arm to the other, stretching your now free hand.  
“Paul? You there?” You knocked again, waited and eventually figured he must have forgotten. Just when you were about to turn around and walk away, the door opened.  
“Hey Pau-” You trailed off. It wasn’t Paul. Another man with brown hair and blue eyes- damn his eyes were really blue- stood in front of you, hand on the door knob. “Umm, hi.”  
“Hey,” he said looking slightly amused.  
“Is this Paul’s room? Paul Gray? He’s in my psych class. I’m _____, we were supposed to study together.” He studied you, eyes sticking to the Slayer decal on your boot.  
“I’m Chris, his roommate.” Chris peeked his head out and scanned up and down the hall. “He’s probably just late, come on in.”  
You walked in somewhat awkwardly, holding your books and trying to subtly look around. The room was organized, at least on one side, and mostly dark colors. Overall it was pretty basic, but what caught your eye were the walls, or rather lack thereof. Almost every bit of what would have been the exposed wall was covered in posters. The majority of which were music posters, Anthrax, Mayhem, Black Sabbath, Bauhaus, and others in that same vein. Damn you, thought. These guys have good taste.  
“You can sit over there. That’s Paul’s side.” Chris pointed to the neater side of the room housing a small desk next to a bed with dark green sheets. You set the books down and shook out your arms gently.  
“Yikes, you need all those books? What did he get himself into?” Chris laughed.  
“It’s not that bad. There are doubles of two of them, because I picked up a copy for each of us.” Your eyes fell on a black guitar case leaning against the wall. “You play?” You asked, pointing at it.  
“I mean yes, but that’s Paul’s. I’m more of a drums type of guy.”  
“Very cool.”  
“Jesus fucking christ, go away!” Came a muffled voice from outside in the hallway. “I’m not kidding, I have plans. Get out of here fuckhead.” Paul. Who else curses like that midday in a crowded school hallway.  
“You’re an ass, Paul.” Someone responded. Chris shook his head and opened the door.  
“You,” he pointed at Paul. “In here. Your friend had been waiting for you. And you,” he pointed at whoever else was behind the door. “Go read something. I don’t understand why you alway come whining to me when you fail everything. It’s your own fault because you don’t fucking study.”  
Curses were muttered and the mystery person stomped away. Paul gave you an apologetic smile.  
“Dude I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to be late. He-who-shall-not-be-named kept me held up.” He exchanged a knowing glance with Chris.  
“Who?” You asked. “Nevermind.” You shook your head and picked up a textbook, tapping the front cover. “Ready?” Paul deflated a little.  
~~~~~~~  
It had been a few hours and Chris left some time ago, complaining that you guys were “too loud.” Paul told him he had the ears of a grandma, which sounded very ironic since you knew he played the drums.  
“How are we not done yet? We’ve been doing this for nearly three hours, I just don’t get it.” He flipped through a textbook, cross checking the page number with a handout.  
“Don’t get what, the laws of time and space or psychology?” You said, munching on some chips.  
“Both.”  
“Well then you’re kind of outta luck mi amigo.” He nodded. You laid back from your seat on the floor and stared at the ceiling. You noticed something strange. “Uhh Paul?”  
“Yes?”  
“Why is there a fancy S drawn on your ceiling?” He broke into a smile and laid down next to you so he could see it too.  
“I’m in a band.” He said, smile morphing into a huge stupid grin. “That’s our logo.” He pointed up at it.  
“Dang that's pretty cool. Chris in it too?” He nodded.  
“And he-who-shall-not-be-named Taylor.”  
“Taylor?”  
“That’s his last name. His first name is he-who-shall-not-be-named.”  
“What did he do to become he-who-shall-not-be-named?”  
“Short answer, the list is very long.” He turned to you. You shook your head. It didn’t matter.  
“Whatever. Tell me about this band of yours. What does S stand for?”  
“Slipknot. It’s so fucking cool. I love it.”  
“And you play guitar?”  
“Bass.” He held up his hand, showing the calluses on his fingers you noticed the other day.  
“Nice.” He looked so happy talking about the band. Frankly it was adorable and you wanted to hug him. “Can I come see you guys play some time?”  
“Yeah of course! That’d be awesome. Just don’t let any of my friends weird you out.”  
“Don’t worry I’ve seen my fair share of weird friends.”  
“Not like this.” Paul shook his head. You laughed.  
“Wait how did you get it up there?”  
“The S?” You nodded. “We have a friend who’s very tall, plays guitar.”  
“I see. And you’re not worried about getting caught?”  
“Nah, who the fuck looks at the ceiling on a regular basis?” You snickered, there was a slightly PG-13 answer to that.  
“Have you written any songs yet?”  
“I mean so far mostly covers, but we have a few.”  
“Will you sing one for me?”  
“I don’t really sing. Actually it’s he-who-sha-”  
“Shall-not-be-named. Yeah I get it.”  
“I see you’re a faster learner.” He smirked. You shrugged, your cheeks heating. “Oh come on, don’t pull that shit with me. You’re running fucking circles around me today. I finally think I understand something and then you’re just like, ‘yeah I got that twenty minutes ago.’ Shut the fuck up.” He shoved your arm gently.  
“Fine. If you don’t need me anymore I’ll just leave.” You grinned. It was a challenge.  
“That’s bullshit, you know that’s not what I meant.”  
“Nope, had no idea.” It went quiet for a minute. “So...you gonna sing or do I have to call he-who-shall-not-be-named?”  
“You do that and I will kick you out. I’m serious.” You made a “go ahead then” gesture with your hands. “I’m not gonna fuckin’ sing, but I can play for you.”  
“Alright, that’s fair. Isn’t it going to be too loud though?”  
“Nah, I have a very small amp that’s basically a speaker so I can keep the volume real low.”  
Paul pulled out the bass and plugged it into the amp that you hadn’t even noticed before. He was right, it looked like a speaker. You sat up and leaned against the bed to watch him.  
“Chill. I haven’t been playing for that long. I’m not great yet.”  
“That sounds like one of the things where you say I’m not great and then you literally shred better than Metallica a second later.” He rolled his eyes...and proved you right.  
Haven’t been playing for very long- my ass. He was awesome. His fingers practically flew across the fretboard, occasionally churning out familiar riffs and melodies. When he finally stopped, both of you looked at the clock around the same time and realized he’d been playing for over twenty minutes.  
“Shit, that was kind of a long time wasn’t it?” He started packing up his bass.  
“Oh please, that was awesome. You proved me right by the way. Maybe not Metallica level yet, but maybe…” you thought about it for a second. “Maybe like KISS level.” He beamed at the compliment and you made a mental note that you wanted to see him that excited more often.  
“Hey I’ll take what I can get.”  
“Paul?”  
“Yeah?”  
“You are one talented, badass motherfucker and when you become famous and tour the world with Slipknot, I’m gonna tell people that I was the reason you didn’t fail psyche in college.”


	10. Joey is very good with kids (Joey X Reader)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You and Joey go to the beach with his cousin and her family and you discover that Joey is adorable with kids.  
> Genderneutral!Reader  
> His cousin's not a real person- I always feel awkward putting their real family members in these kinda things.  
> I like it a lot actually, I was hoping it would turn out longer, but I decided to cut it off because I thought that was a good ending.  
> Trigger warnings: mentions of drinking, a single curse word (seriously only one I counted)

“Babe?” Joey called from the other room.  
“Yeah?” You straightened up after folding your jacket and putting it in a backpack along with sunscreen, a book, your wallet, and the other small knick knacks you needed for the beach. Joey’s face appeared in the doorway.  
“My cousin’s bringing her kid, I hope that’s okay.”  
“Yeah, of course. Why wouldn’t it be okay?” Joey looked relieved.  
“I don’t know.” He walked over and put his arm around you. “I didn’t know if you liked kids.” You laughed softly.  
“I mean they’re not my favorite, but I don’t mind. Especially because it’s your family and really I’m the one who’s intruding.”  
“You’re not intruding. What makes you say that?” You shrugged. It was just a gut feeling, and of course the fact that his cousin wasn’t very welcoming to say the least. “You’re never intruding.” Your face turned red.  
“On that note, are you all packed up?”  
“Yep, let’s go. You wanna drive?” Joey held out the keys and you shook your head.  
“No thank you sir.” He grinned.  
“That’s what I thought.”  
~~~~~~~  
The drive to the beach was uneventful. You spent most of the time looking out the window, watching the scenery fly by and bobbing your head to whatever was on the classic rock station. Occasionally, Joey would start tapping out the beat of a song on the steering wheel somewhat discreetly, but it always ended with the two of you singing a duet.  
You were still nervous though. Seeing Joey’s family was always anxiety provoking, no matter how many times you did. He was quick to reassure you that he was the one embarrassed by his family, but when you were with them he fit in and you stuck out like a sore thumb.  
You felt Joey’s hand on your thigh and turned around.  
“We’re almost there. Are you gonna be okay?”  
“Yeah, yeah of course. I’m fine.” Your voice was full of false confidence and he saw right through it.  
“Hey, listen, if you don’t feel good, come straight to me. We can leave or I’ll figure something out.” God he was so sweet.  
“Thanks, but I’m sure it won’t come to that.”  
The car pulled into one of the parking spots by the entrance to the beach and you took a few deep breaths before getting out and grabbing your bag from the trunk. Joey was texting his cousin to see if they were there yet, but something caught your eye and you tapped his shoulder. He looked up and you pointed.  
“Is that them right there?” Across the street, a kid, maybe eight or nine was sitting on the shoulders of a tall man who you assumed to be his father, they looked remarkably alike, and waving frantically at Joey. Next to them, a woman a little older than you was grabbing stuff out of the back seat and talking anxiously to her husband.  
“Yup, welcome to the family.”  
When you and Joey finally met up with his cousin, the first thing that happened was her kid begging to be put back down on the sand and running into Joey’s arms with enough force that it almost knocked him over.  
“Hiya Scottie- oof, stop squeezing so tight, man. I can’t breathe.” Scottie stepped back, looking guilty.  
“Sorry,” he pouted, watching his toes draw lines in the sand.  
“Nah it’s okay, buddy. Just means you're getting really strong. How old are you now? Twenty? Twenty one?”  
“Joeeeey, I’m nine.” Joey pretended to be shocked.  
“Are you sure? That seems awfully young for a man of your stature.”  
“Have you considered that you’re just small?” Joey’s cousin walked up to us, grabbing Scottie and holding him at her hip.  
“It’s nice to see you too Becca.”  
“Shorter every time Jordison.”  
“I will deck you in front of this child.” Joey held up a hand, leaning like he was going to step forward.  
“And in front of your…” She trailed off, pointing to you.  
“Oh uh hi, I’m _____. Joey’s my boyfriend.” You held out a hand. She took it and you fought the urge to wince. Her handshake was intense.  
“It’s nice to meet you. This is Scottie and back there is my husband, Henry.” Henry smiled and waved.  
“Hey.” He was very handsome, probably the exact opposite of Joey though, tall, dark skin, dark eyes, and short curly hair. Becca on the other hand, looked more like Joey. She was taller, and I assumed she never let him forget it, with black hair straighter than a ruler and light blue eyes, just like him. Fuck, she was pretty. You knew it was just his cousin and her husband, but their collective attractiveness was intimidating.  
“You okay?” Joey nudged you lightly with his hand. You nodded. “Let’s go then. If Scottie isn’t in the water in about fifteen seconds I think he’s going to explode.”  
~~~~~~~~  
After the beach towels and chairs were set up, Becca went to grab some drinks from the cafe and Joey was playing in the water with Scottie. You sat on a beach towel, flipping through your book, trying to decide whether or not it was worth attempting to read. Henry was to your right on an adjacent towel.  
You sighed and gave up on your book, choosing to watch Scottie and Joey scuff around in the sand instead. It was unbelievably adorable. That kid had so much energy, running literal circles around Joey, splashing around and chanting things like, “betcha can’t catch me.” To which Joey would respond by catching him and dunking them both.  
You never knew Joey was good with kids. He never mentioned it and you never asked, so it never came up. You had to admit there was something seriously attractive about a guy being good with kids. Probably went all the way to ancient human instincts. Whatever it was, you liked it.  
“Scottie’s really cute.” You turned to Henry, who'd taken off his shirt revealing a toned stomach. Okayyyy, how about I just don’t look down.  
“Thank you. He’s got so much energy though. Becca thinks he has ADHD, but we haven’t gotten around to having him tested.”  
“Hey, anytime you need to wear him out, just send him over to us. I’m sure Joey will be happy to chase him around for a few hours.” Henry laughed.  
“A few hours, try a few days. See how that goes.” Your laughter joined Henry’s. “You have kids?” You stopped, the question catching you off guard. “Sorry, did I hit a nerve?”  
“No, don’t worry about it. Just got surprised that’s all.” He didn’t seem convinced. “Joey and I don’t have any kids,” you clarified, turning your gaze back to the water. The wind had picked up and Joey’s hair was being blown all around. He was constantly flipping it out of his face and while he was distracted, Scottie took the opportunity to splash and tackle him.  
“Do you want kids?”  
“To be honest, we don’t know. Joey’s a musician, so he travels a lot.” Henry nodded along like he already knew. “It’s just...complicated.”  
“Yeah that’s fair. It’s a big decision. You’re welcome to borrow Scottie if you ever need a trial run.”  
“I’ll keep that in mind.” You smiled at Henry. He was very pleasant to be around, super open and friendly, unlike Becca. Your face fell. “On second thought maybe not.”  
“Why?” He asked.  
“I don’t think Becca likes very much.”  
“What makes you say that?” Your face flushed.  
“Well uhh, weirdly she always refers to me as his ‘friend’,” you said with air quotes. “But she knows we’ve been together for a while.”  
“That’s odd. It doesn’t necessarily mean anything though.”  
“Yeah I know. Where is she by the way? Wasn’t she just getting drinks?” A knowing look crossed Henry’s face.  
“By getting drinks she means getting drunk.”  
“Oh.”  
“Yeah,” he sighed. “Not the best habit, but it’s okay. I never let her drive and it makes her tired usually. Besides, Scottie’s having a shit ton of fun with Joey.” He gestured towards the water and then his eyes widened.  
“What?” His mood switched so fast it was borderline alarming. His smile returned and he chuckled.  
“I tried to stop cursing when I became a dad, but it slips out occasionally and luckily this time it wasn’t in front of Scottie. Kiddo’s like a sponge when it comes to curse words. Won’t remember multiplication, but can repeat back every word of an inappropriate rap song he heard twice.” He held up two fingers for emphasis.  
“That’s kids for ya.”  
Joey came running up the beach with Scottie on his back and dumped him in the sand in front of us.  
“Hey,” he said, out of breath and kissed your cheek. “I see you’ve been working out Henry.” Henry nodded, shrugging, but his expression turned smug.  
“Just a little bit.”  
“Sure. Where’s Becca?” Henry jerked his thumb towards the cafe and clicked his tongue.  
“I see. What time is it? I’m starving,” Joey said, tying his hair back in a ponytail. Henry checked his watch.  
“5:15.”  
“Damn, have we really been here for two hours.”  
“Time flies when you’re having fun,” you added. Joey smiled and your chest squeezed. You beckoned him over and he sat down next to you. You leaned against his shoulder and grabbed his hand, interlacing your fingers with his. “I am so in love with you right now,” you whispered in his ear. He just gave you a confused look.  
“Why?” You smiled and shook your head.  
“Nothing, nevermind.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey so I really wanna do a prom oneshot with one of the guys, but I don't really know who to pick. I know I don't have many readers, but I'd be really interested to hear who you guys think should get the prom oneshot. Just for the sake of evenness I'd rather not do Joey or Corey, because Joey already has two and I have a few lined up for Corey, but if that's what you think I'd still like to know.
> 
> So basically, who do you wanna go to prom with?


	11. Corey Helps Reader with Body Image Issues (Corey X Reader)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey so this is something I really wanted to do at least one chapter about because I think it's important to talk about and I know a lot of people struggle with this kinda stuff and yeah idk... Turned out shorter than I wanted but whatever
> 
> GenderNeutral!Reader has troubles with their body image and Corey helps them by being the sweetheart he is. 
> 
> Most of this is based on my personal experience with an eating disorder, but I did my best to keep it very neutral in the hope that maybe folks with dysphoria could relate as well. 
> 
> Trigger Warnings: Cursing, ED/body image stuff, basically mental health shit

“Mirrors. Awful, why does anybody have them? Everytime I look in one I feel like shit. Who knew a goddamn piece of glass could make me hate myself so much.”

Thoughts like these plagued your head constantly. Nothing felt right, nothing looked right. Something could always be smaller, or thinner, straighter or more curved. It didn’t matter. Nothing was ever right. You tried, you really did. Changing what you ate, working out, asking your doctor, nothing ever worked. And you hated it.

_ This is my body, I should be able to change how it looks. It’s not fair that millions of people can look like that and I look like this. _

You groaned. It was nearly eleven thirty and you were scheduled to go to lunch with your boyfriend Corey. This was a big deal since he was a musician and traveled a lot. When he was in town though, he always made time to see you. It was fun hearing his wild tour stories, like how one time a fan was crazy about Joey and wouldn’t leave him alone, so Mick just picked him up and ran away. It was supposed to be very casual, just lunch at a diner to catch up.

You would never tell him this, but Corey traveling a lot made you very anxious. Especially because you were sure fangirls- and fanboys, who are we kidding here- were constantly throwing themselves at him. He would understand, he was always supportive and loving, but it was scary to admit to him how insecure you were. If he knew about it, he would worry, and you didn’t want him to worry. There was already enough on his plate.

Speaking of plates, time to get ready. You stared at yourself in the bathroom mirror, eyes scanning your reflection for any new reasons to hate your body.

Hair today? Fine. The one thing in your control you fucked with as much as you wanted to. Dying it, bleaching it, cutting it all off, whatever satisfied the urge in the moment. Sure it ended with you crying on the floor with scissors in your hands sometimes, but it was better than not doing anything. You shook your head, moving on.

Face? Could be worse you suppose. You lifted a hand and prodded at the skin around your eyes, examining the dark circles. _ Fuck, I should sleep more.  _ Your skin was a little dry, but not so terrible that a little moisturizer couldn’t fix it.

After brushing your teeth for the second time today and doing what you suppose some would consider your “skincare routine,” you headed to the closet.  _ Perfect, great, I love this. It totally doesn’t make me feel horrible.  _ You wanted to look nice for Corey since you hadn’t seen him in a while. He didn’t care, he thought you were perfect no matter what you were wearing (even when that consisted of nothing), but there was still self imposed pressure. Fuck.

Instinctively you grabbed an everyday outfit, jeans, t-shirt, flannel, boots, and the small bracelets you stacked up your arms. There wasn’t much purpose for the bracelets, a friend gave them to you and they somehow integrated into your wardrobe. They were cute, added some color to your usual dark outfits.

This time you took care to pick jeans with no rips, what you considered to be your best fitting t-shirt, and the less worn pair of boots with small heels.

Before putting on your flannel, you stopped to look over your outfit in the full length mirror. Big mistake.

_ Damn were these jeans always this tight? Or have I gotten worse? _ Your eyes traveled up to your stomach and chest. Tears pressed into the back of your eyes.  _ It’s wrong, it’s all wrong. _ You felt your tummy and chest over your shirt, pinching every now and then at what you wished wasn’t there.

You twisted sideways, studying your profile.  _ That’s it. I’m going to cut off my ass, I swear. _ Jawline? What jawline? Nope, not here. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck….

You were starting to spin out, managing to grab your phone before crumpling to the floor. The time read 12:37. You were supposed to have met up with Corey by now. Crap.  _ Is it worth it to text him? Probably not, he’ll just ask why and I’ll have to make up some shitty excuse. _ You tossed your phone to the side on top of a pile of clothes.

I’m not going to go. It doesn’t matter. I don’t deserve him anyways, and he doesn’t deserve to have to deal with my bullshit all the time. Tears had broken through and were falling into your cupped hands. You grabbed a fluffy sweatshirt and cuddled it close, pulling your knees into your chest and leaning against the mirror.

_ Every damn time. I should break it. _

You weren’t really sure how long you sat there. Eventually the tears stopped and you were just sitting, trying to disappear.  _ This body isn’t me, it’s a skin suit for my consciousness. _

A knock on the door jolted you out of your fog, head snapping up.

“Hey,” a voice called. Oh shit. “It’s Corey. Are you okay? Can I come in?”  _ Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, don’t make a sound. _ You cursed yourself. “Hello?” He knocked again and you blew out a slow breath when you couldn’t hear him anymore. Keys jingled outside.  _ Fuck, I forgot I gave him a key. _

The door unlocked with a click and you heard Corey’s footsteps come inside. Shit. At least it was fairly dark, maybe he would think you weren’t home.

“Hello?” His voice got closer. He walked into your room you guessed. Your closet was connected to the bathroom, needing a seperate door to access, which usually annoyed you, but was your saving grace today.  _ Don't come in here, please. Don’t do it, _ you begged silently.

He turned the corner, appearing in the doorway and your heart sank. You stayed deathly still, but you knew he could see you. His eyes finally landed on you after scanning the small room.

“Hey,” he said softly. “Can I come over there?” You nodded.  _ Fuck it, he’s here now. _ He walked over and sat down, wrapping his arms around you and pulling you into his chest. He pet your hair and pressed a kiss to the top of your head. “I’m here, I’ve got you. It’s all going to be okay.” You turned and buried your face in the crook of his neck, tears had returned to your eyes.

“Why do you like me?” You whispered into his skin.

“Huh?”

“Why do you like me?” You sat up, staring at him.

“What kind of a question is that?”

“One I want you to answer.” He rubbed the back of his neck, looking caught off guard.

“Geez, wow. I wasn’t expecting that.” This was not making you feel much better. You turned away. “Hey, hey, I know what you’re thinking and it’s not that. I just..don’t really know how to answer that question. For starters I don’t ‘like you’, I love you.” Your face turned red.

“See that,” he pointed to your face and poked your nose. “That’s cute. That’s adorable. There we go, reason number one of five hundred thousand million whatever.” Through your tears, you smiled, a half smile, but it was still there.

“You know I would be better at this if you gave me some warning. Maybe three days in advance would be good, so I have time to prepare my powerpoint presentation.”

“Oh shut up. You don’t mean that.” He shrugged, a small smirk gracing his lips.

“Maybe I do, maybe I don’t. What brought this on anyways?” You glued your eyes to the floor, not wanting to meet his gaze. “Does it have anything to do with why you didn’t come to lunch today?” You nodded almost imperceptibly. “Do you wanna talk about it?” This time you shook your head.

“I would appreciate it if you told me what was wrong. Then maybe I could try and make it better.”

“Not this. You can’t do anything about this.”

“I certainly can’t if you don’t tell me what it is.” He was going to keep pushing. You sighed, giving in.

“I just- I hate the way I look so fucking much. Every time I see a mirror it’s the same goddamn thing. Every time I see myself I want to cry.” He was silent for a minute. It was obvious this wasn’t what he expected.

“Okay,” he said slowly.

“It doesn’t feel like me, like I’m not supposed to look like this. I just wanna unzip my skin and run out.”

“I don’t know how much it counts to you, but I love you and I love your body.” You sniffled and Corey smiled warmly at you, kissing your forehead. “I love everything about you, from your eyes, to your stomach, hips, legs, butt- I especially love that.” You shoved him lightly on the arm. “I’m serious. Every goddamn thing about you. Hands, arms, whatever, hell I even love your knees.”

“That’s weird.” You wrinkled your nose.

“Well your knees are part of you so I love them.” You giggled, you couldn't help it. He was just so darn cute and sweet and amazing.

“Okay, Mr. Perfect. I accept your compliments.”

“They are not compliments, they are facts and I’m definitely not perfect.” He paused. “You know what I used to do when I felt shitty about myself?”

“What?”

“Get tattoos, and it was a terrible idea I’d say...ninety percent of the time. If I felt shitty and started drinking, sometimes I would wake up with god knows what stuck on my body.”

“Yeah, that is kinda dumb.”

“There’s also the fact that thousands of people make fun of my neck on the internet.” He rolled his eyes. “And sometimes not on the internet.”

“Hmm, but are they right is the question?” You smiled at him, a real smile this time.

“No.”


	12. Shawn is a Real Clown (Shawn X Reader subtly)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You are at a Halloween carnival and Shawn works there as a scary clown. You hit your head running and he makes sure you're okay, nuff said
> 
> Trigger Warnings: Cursing, clowns, scary stuff I guess, non-fatal injuries

“Get back here, don’t leave me.” You tugged on your friend’s jacket keeping him from walking away. It was Devil’s Night, October 30th, and deception was running rampant.

“Pussy,” he said, but wrapped his arm over your shoulders. “I’m not leaving. I know how scared you are.”

“ _I know how scared you are_ ,” you mimicked in a high pitched voice. “Shut the fuck up Josh, this was your idea.”

“Yeah and you agreed.” You rolled your eyes.

“Okay whatever.” The lights of the ferris wheel appeared from behind a game booth. “Hey, let’s go there.” You pointed and Josh nodded.

“Good idea. If we’re up in the sky, the monsters can’t get us,” he laughed. You punched him lightly on the arm.

“Great, you can pay for the tickets.”

The carnival came to town every year around Halloween for two weeks. During the day, all ages were welcome, but after seven pm it transformed into an elaborate horror attraction for eighteen and up. You’d only been once before and had to leave early because you were so scared. Now it was two years later and you were ready to prove yourself braver than last time.

It was dark almost pitch black, you and Josh had gotten there late after being held up by traffic and it was already sending shivers down your spine. Creepy circus music poured into the air from hidden speakers and corpses dressed like acrobats were casually scattered throughout the crowd, jumping and screaming at unsuspecting victims.

You and Josh sat in a ferris wheel cart, eating cotton candy dyed so it turned your teeth black for a few minutes after you ate it.

“You look deranged.” You laughed at Josh as he grinned, revealing black, sticky teeth. “Like something out of a Rob Zombie movie.”

“You have them too. Be glad there aren’t mirrors around here.” You hooked your index fingers on your bottom lip and pulled it down, your own black teeth shining above an inner lip tattoo. Josh’s eyes widened.

“Dude that’s so cool, when did you get it?” You let go of your lip.

“Saturday. With my aunt.”

“That’s wicked. Do it again, lemme see.” You obliged. “Holy fuck. It says ‘heretic’ right?”

“Yup. It’s so awesome. Honestly I love it. Felt super weird though.” He nodded in agreement. “They said it might fade though, after five to ten years.” Josh scoffed.

“Five to ten years is a long time.” He broke into a smirk. “Say, does your mom know?” Your face flushed.

“No and she’s not going to find out. I don’t just walk around showing people the inside of my lip.”

“Fair.”

~~~~~~~~

It was almost midnight and there was only one attraction you and Josh had left to do. The Hall of Mirrors. The attraction looked innocent enough from the outside, but an unsuspecting player would find that not to be true. The entrance was a tunnel that extended back from a clown’s open mouth and inside was a maze with walls made of glass and mirrors. It was designed to be disorienting, people often got separated without realizing it. To make matters worse, staff dressed in scary costumes roamed around inside.

Josh tugged you towards it.

“Oh no no no. We are not doing that. Over my dead body.” You shook your head, pulling back.

“Oh come on. It’ll be fun.”

“No fucking way.”

“What if I bribe you?” You raised an eyebrow.

“I’m listening.”

“Okay, if you make it through this with me, I’ll….get whatever you want tattooed on my lip.”

“You sure?” He nodded. Damn. “I might be out for revenge.”

“Fine okay. No curse words, nothing gross, deal?” He held out his hand.

“You have yourself a deal, my good Joshua.” You shook his hand and then pulled him in, whispering in his ear. “A deal you are going to severely regret.” He held up his palms in defeat.

“You have to make it through though. If you chicken out there’s no deal, okay?”

“Whatever, let’s go. I have to think about your tattoo.”

Standing outside at the entrance was a lot more intense than it looked from further away. You swallowed. Maybe you should have made Josh raise the stakes. Josh paid the ticket lady and you two waited outside in line for your turn.

“Still wanna do this?” He asked.

“Mhmm.” You grabbed his hand, squeezing so tightly he winced.

“Lighten up, Jesus. It’s all fake.”

It was your turn and you stepped into the tunnel, brushing aside a red bead curtain into the maze. There was only one way in with three paths branching off. Josh led the way, holding out his hand to feel if there was really a turn, or just glass and mirrors. It was dark, with harsh white spotlights shining down from above and fake smoke blanketing the floor.

“Shit Josh, this is fuckin’ scary,” you hissed. He shrugged. Footsteps came from behind and your head whipped around just in time to see a zombie ringmaster shuffling after you. You shoved Josh forward. “Come on run.” He didn’t need to be told twice. Josh ran ahead still holding your hand and dragging you behind him, occasionally slamming into sheets of glass nearly invisible from far away.

He was running so fast that you lost your grip on his hand, scrambling after him. He turned a corner, but when you tried to follow it was blocked by a mirror you were almost positive wasn't there before. It didn’t matter, you just kept running. It started to feel like you were only getting more lost.

“Josh!” You shouted his name, but it was drowned out by the music. A loud bang echoed through the halls and you whirled around, pressing your back against a mirror. A clown was staring at you, holding a baseball bat in one hand and what you prayed was a fake knife in the other.

The clown stepped forward and you flinched, dragging out a laugh from under the rubber mask.

“You better run,” it hissed. You took off running. Everything looked the same and in the half light you had no idea which way you had come from and which way the exit was. You were crying now, panting and aching from your body hitting the walls as you turned corners.

You doubled over, bracing your hands against your knees, trying to catch your breath. The clown appeared in front of you. You backed away slowly, hastily rubbing tears out of your eyes. The clown tossed his bat from hand to hand, staring. To your right you saw a turn, a way to get around him. Without sparing him a second glance you ran around the corner, still hearing his heavy boots hit the ground behind you. You looked back for just a second and felt your head smash against a wall.

You slid down the wall, crumpling and curling up on the floor. Spots danced across your vision, but you could still see the clown approaching. Your head pounded and everything was getting fuzzy. The clown leaned down towards you and bright blue eyes glittered from under the rubber.

“Please, no…..

~~~~~~

Your eyes cracked open, but all you could see were white blurs and black splotches. You let them close again. Where am I? As you tried to sit up, an aching in your head and body kept you down. Slowly you became aware of a gentle rocking and two hands, one splayed on your back and the other under your knees. Someone was carrying you.

The hands set you down in a chair, making sure you could hold yourself upright before moving away. You rubbed your eyes and groaned.

“What the hell happened?” You mumbled.

“You hit your head, hard.” A deep voice startled you out of your daze. Blinking your eyes open, you saw a man, maybe thirty, studying you with concern. Your gaze fell on his eyes, blue.

“Shit,” you breathed. “It was you. You’re the clown.” The man nodded.

“Yeah, sorry about that. You hit your head when I was chasing you and passed out. I’m Shawn by the way.” He held out his hand. Before taking it you noticed dirt in the creases of his palms and under his fingernails.

“Hi, I’m ____.” You looked around. This part of the carnival must not be open to the public. It seemed to be behind the attractions, the music still floating through the air. There were a few big circus tents set up with chairs and tables and other amenities for the carnival staff to hang out and take breaks in. It was cute, homey, but there was a distinct feature it was lacking.

“Uh I came here with a friend. Name’s Josh, brown hair, tall, absolute string bean, probably weighs as much as just my arm.” Shawn laughed. “Have you seen him? Is he here? He’s supposed to be my ride, so…” Shawn cleared his throat.

“No, I haven’t seen him. My friend though mentioned seeing him run out of the maze after someone split you up.”

“Great. So he's probably just outside. It’s late, I should go find him.” You moved to stand up, but the clown held up a hand.

“You’re not going anywhere. One; that was half an hour ago, you were out for a long time. And two; I’m not letting you go walk around by yourself. You could have a concussion or even something worse.”

“Okay, well what do I do now? Josh has my phone and I can’t get home without him.” He shrugged.

“My co-worker Nina is an EMT, she can check you out. I won’t be able to sleep tonight if I let you walk out of here right now.” You sat back.

“Yeah, alright.” An awkward silence fell.

“I really am sorry. Just got carried away I guess.” He looked at his watch. “Been doing this all night n’ it’s starting to wear on me.”

“Is it fun?”

“Yeah, mostly. It’s just a side job, trying to make some extra money where I can.”

“Hell of a side job that’s for sure.” He smiled. “What’s your real job? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“I’m in a band.”

“That’s pretty cool. What band?” He shifted in his seat, looking self conscious.

“Slipknot, but we’re not very big yet.” The name pinged off a memory in your brain.

“Hey no, I do know you guys. Mate.Feed.Kill.Repeat right? That’s you? That’s awesome. I love that record.” Shawn’s face lit up.

“Thanks, I’m glad you like it.”

“No, that shit is badass. Not really like anything I’ve ever listened to before.”

“How did you hear about it? Like I said, we’re not very big yet.” You paused to think about it.

“String bean is friends with your…drummer I think. Joey? Joey Jordison?”

“Yeah that’s him.” Shawn shook his head. “That’s awesome that you knew us. I don’t think anyone’s told me they’ve heard of us before.”

“I’m glad I’m the first then.” You glanced down at the mask lying on the floor next to his chair. “You’re surprisingly easy to talk to for someone who makes money chasing people in a clown mask.”

“I like to think I’m full of surprises.” He winked, and a blush rose to your cheeks. _Oh. So that’s a thing that just happened._

“You know the only reason I went in that damn hell hole was because Josh said he’d get any tattoo I wanted on his lip.” You pulled down your lip, exposing “heretic.” Shawn’s eyes widened. “If he thinks I chickened out, the deal’s off.” You leaned forward in your chair.

“You fainted, I don’t think that counts as chickening out.”

“Mmm, yeah but you had to carry me out of there. I don’t think he’ll take it. I need your help.”

A pretty woman in a doll dress covered in blood entered the tent and you sat back, sighing. Shawn looked up.

“Hey Nina. Thanks for coming. This is ____. They hit their head in the hall of mirrors and I was hoping you’d check them out.”

“Course hun. No problem.” She held out a white gloved hand. “I’m Nina. As Shawn probably told you, I’m training to be an EMT and I’m just going to make sure you’re okay. Make sure nothing got rattled in there.” _Did she mean in my head or the hall of mirrors?_ You nodded slowly, relaxing as she checked various parts of your body for cuts and bruises.

“Do you still feel dizzy?” You shook your head. “Any blurriness in your eyesight or hearing loss? No? Okay, good. What’s your mom’s phone number?” You must have looked confused because she elaborated. “Or your dad’s or a friend’s? It doesn’t really matter, just a memory test.”

“Umm okay. 1-515-” You repeated Josh’s phone number back to her.

“Alright perfect. You seem fine to me hun. If you feel dizzy or weak in the next few days definitely see a doctor just in case though. Bye.” She waved to you and Shawn.

“Bye Nina. Thanks,” he called as she was walking away.

“So uhh, you and her?” You pointed to him and then to Nina’s disappearing figure.

“Huh, no definitely not. She’s just a friend.” You nodded slowly, not very convinced. “Why?” You shrugged, blushing and staring at the floor.

“No reason.”

“So..” he clapped his hands. “Joshua. The maze. The tattoo. What’s up?”

“Right, so I can go now,” you looked up at him for approval. He nodded and you continued. “It’s been a while, do you think he’d believe I was still trapped in there?”

“Probably not, but you could say you were cornered by a scary clown for an hour behind the maze.”

“Pfft, he’d never believe that.” Across from you Shawn grinned devilishly.

“He would if I chased you out of here. Don’t worry I’ll make sure you don’t hit your head again.” You shivered at the thought of seeing that awful mask again.

“Okay, yeah that’ll work.” It was silent for a moment. “So is this goodbye?” He nodded, but as you moved to stand up he stopped you.

“You should come see Slipknot sometime. I’m sure any of us could use the ego boost.”

“Yeah that would be great. I would love that.”

“Here I’ll give you my number.” He searched around for any paper, returning empty handed. You held out your forearm.

“Would this work?” When he was done a phone number, his name, and a fancy ‘S’ were scribbled on your skin.

“Awesome. I can’t wait.” You leaned in and kissed his cheek.

“Likewise.” He bent down and picked up the mask. “You want a head start?”

~~~~~~~~

“Josh! Josh! Josh! Come on we gotta go!” You ran, grabbing his hand and pulling him behind you.

“Dude what the fuck? Where were you?” You pointed behind you to where Shawn was chasing you, screaming and waving his baseball bat.

“Got held up, come on let’s go.”

“Holy shit.”


	13. Micky Takes You to Prom (Mick X Reader)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uhh so I got incomplete results when I asked who y’all want to go to prom with. Mick was the most requested, but not by much. However, I am going to do a slightly different prom one for Jim as well just because I have another idea. Anyways, I never went to prom so idk what’s it’s like. I just watched YouTube videos of other people going to prom. Be gentle.  
> Also, not gonna lie reader is pretty feminine. My apologies but I am a female so I write females better and it kinda gets subconsciously integrated whether I like it or not.
> 
> Mick takes you to prom, that’s kinda it. It’s pretty cute I think. I wish it was better, idk if I lived up to the concept but fuck it we’re already here.  
> Bonus points if anyone knows the dumbass song I referenced 
> 
> Trigger warnings: cursing, messy feelings and stuff

_ “It's prom night, 6 P.M. _

_ She's waiting for her date _

_ To pick her up in a fancy car _

_ The captain of the football team _

_ Feels like the dream” _

You pulled out your earbuds and shook your head, chuckling.  _ Full circle, _ you thought. That song was so dumb, it only made sense that your friend would send it to you on the day of your senior prom. This was a huge deal, not only because it was your senior prom, but also because it was your first prom. 

The week before your junior prom, you tripped down a flight of stairs and pulverized the bones in your leg. Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but there was no way you would be able to dance and the thought of going to prom in a wheelchair was not your favorite. Instead, your date came to your house and you watched movies together as he insisted he didn’t mind not going.

This year you did everything you could to make sure it would be perfect. Three weeks ago your best friend helped you pick out an amazing outfit. At first it seemed overkill to prepare so far in advance, but better safe than sorry in your opinion. 

You stood in front of your full length mirror, admiring yourself from different angles. Admiring sounds vain, but it was true, you looked great and deserved to feel a little proud. Your heart skipped a beat as you thought about what your date would say when he saw you. You gave him a rough description of what you were going to wear, just so he could match his tie, but he hadn’t seen you yet.

You bit your lip, the compulsion to giggle rising in your throat. Everything was coming together and prom was shaping up to be just what you hoped for and more. 

Your phone pinged on the bed, the text from your boyfriend.

-hey im outside, u ready babe??? A blush rose and your cheeks heated, here we go.

-yea c u in 2 mins <3 

You grabbed your bag and shoved your phone inside before taking one final look at yourself.  _ Damn. I look good. _ You hurried downstairs waving bye to your mom, nearly tripping trying to get out the door before she had the chance to make you stay for photographs. 

As you stepped outside, the cold air brought goosebumps to your arms, but you hardly noticed. All you saw was your boyfriend Mick, leaning against the side of his car, gorgeous as hell, holding a small bouquet of flowers for you. Your breath caught in your throat and upon reaching him, you pulled him into a tight hug. 

“You look...wow.” He bent his head, pressing a kiss to your temple.

“Thank you!” You said ecstatically, stretching on your toes to kiss him. After stepping away you smoothed the front of his suit where your hug had caused the fabric to wrinkle. “You look so handsome, Micky, all dressed up.” He smiled somewhat bashfully and rubbed the back of his neck.

“It’s nothing. Tonight is for you.” He passed you the flowers, somehow he remembered your favorite.

“You’re too sweet, oh my god.” You grinned at him. “I’m honestly debating on blowing this whole thing off and just spending time together.” His expression shifted to serious, but his eyes stayed warm.

“No, we’re not doing that. It’s your senior prom goddamnit and you’re going to go and have an awesome fuckin’ time. Got it?” He cupped your face, brushing his thumb across your cheek. 

“Mhmm.”

“I will carry you there if I have to.” He opened the passenger side door for you, walking to the other side after you slid in. The car started with a jolt and you instinctively grabbed Mick’s arm, breathing a laugh when you realized what you did. “Ready?” You nodded, tonight was just getting better and better.

~~~~~~~~

Mick pulled into the school parking lot, smoothly backing into a spot. You opened the car door and got out, nearly smacking into your annoyed boyfriend. 

“You’re not supposed to open the car door. That’s my job.” You rolled your eyes.

“Okay, Prince Charming. I’ll wait next time.” He held out his hand, standing a little straighter when you interlaced your thinner fingers with his. 

“Shall we?” You beamed up at him. Mick was always wonderful, but you could tell he was trying extra hard for you tonight. For someone who wasn’t always the classiest, he cleaned up well. You were fairly surprised when he seemed so adamant about going to prom this year. He wasn’t exactly captain of the football team and school events usually weren’t his thing. 

He insisted that he was doing it for you, that he wanted to make sure you had the full highschool experience before going off to college. You had no complaints. It was adorable and endearing to see Mick play a perfect gentleman. You swung your hand a little in his, earning a strange look from him as you walked together to the auditorium. 

Your hopes weren’t that high for the actual dance part of the prom. It was probably going to be cheesy and cliche, but that wasn’t why you went obviously.

As you walked through the double doors, your mouth fell open a little. Your friends had told you the prom committee was good this year, but you’d just figured how good can they be? They were really,  _ really _ good. 

The theme this year was Casino Night, a little unexpected for a government funded facility, but you weren’t complaining. All the seats and bleachers were taken out and replaced with elegant tables and a red and black checkered dance floor. The overhead lights were fairly low, leaving most of the illumination to spotlights with red and gold filters and small fairy lights strung around the room. There were red and black balloons everywhere and flower center pieces with dice and poker chips mixed in on every table. Everything sparkled and the music pumping into the room wasn’t half bad, better than the top 40 at least. 

“Hey!” Someone called to you over the music. “Over here!” Your eyes landed on Sid, looking rather dapper in a black and gold tux. He even had on a cute fedora. How he managed to pull those off was a mystery to you.

“Come on.” You tugged Mick behind as you made your way through the crowd over to your friends. Sid gave you a big hug before stepping back and looking you up and down. 

“Damn you look great,” his smile abruptly fell when Mick shot him a death glare. 

“Chill, Micky. You know who helped me pick out this outfit?” A pretty brunette in the chair next to Sid’s raised her hand. “Exactly Keiko,” you gave Mick a pointed look. “Sid’s  _ girlfriend _ .” He just shrugged. 

“Come sit.” Keiko patted the chair next to her. 

“Where’s Corey?” You glanced around the room. She rolled her eyes.

“Take a wild guess.” She pointed towards the hallway out of the auditorium. 

“So uhh Ashley’s not here either huh?” She shook her head. “Too bad, she said her dress was really nice. I was excited to see it.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After chatting for a while and having something to eat, everyone went to go dance, Corey and Ashley having finally joined you. 

You rested your head against Mick’s chest, slow dancing to The Cure’s “Lovesong.” You looked up at him.

“Thank you,” your voice was barely above a whisper. The smile that appeared on his face melted your heart. “You’re amazing.”

“Nah.” He kissed the top of your head. 

“I think you missed.” You beckoned him closer with a finger and stretched up on your tiptoes, meeting him halfway for a kiss. 

The song switched to Just Like Heaven and someone tapped your shoulder. Keiko was smiling at you and doing a dorky little dance. You laughed and joined in, tugging Mick’s suit jacket, trying to get him to dance. He refused. Apparently there  _ was _ a limit of what he was willing to do for you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“This way.” You giggled, walking through the dark school hallways. It was always weird seeing your school without the hundreds of swarming teenagers rushing around. There was a maintenance stairwell that led to the roof and you pushed open the door and climbed up a flight of stairs before making it out onto the top of the building. 

The wind blew around you, sending goosebumps crawling up your arms.  _ Shit _ , you forgot your jacket inside.  _ Well that was kind of dumb of me _ . You rubbed your hands up and down your arms to generate warmth and looked out into the city. 

It was a clear night, like the smog had decided to disappear just for you. The city lights stretched as far as you could see; green, red, yellow, white, blue, every color you could imagine. You let out a slow breath, marveling at the scene in front of you. Everything looked so small from up here.

You felt Mick put his jacket around your shoulders and turned around. It was so big it practically swallowed you up. Welp, that’s what you get for having a tall, strong boyfriend.

“Thanks, umm are you sure you don’t need it though?” You asked more out of politeness than anything else. Mick scoffed.

“Yeah, I’m fine. You’re shaking like a leaf.” He motioned for you to come over and wrapped his arms around you from behind, cuddling you into his chest. 

“Mmm, thank you Micky.” You lifted your hand to your face, smelling the cologne on Mick’s jacket.  _ I wish I never had to give this back _ . You sighed. 

“I’m having a really good time,” you said, wistfully. The moment was bittersweet. “With you I’m probably the luckiest person in the world right now.”

“Nope, because that person is me. Maybe you’re second luckiest.” You raised an eyebrow.

“Kay Mr. BigShot.” The sounds of the city droned on, filling what would have otherwise been silence. “Umm, Mick?”

“Hmm?” Your heart started to beat faster, anxiety creeping in.

“I umm, I love you,” you blurted it out, scared that if you waited any longer you would lose your nerve. Neither of you had ever said that before, and you weren’t completely sure he felt the same. He didn’t say anything for a long time, long enough that you started to pull away. 

“No, get back here.” He gently held your shoulders looking you in the eyes. He broke the stare, casting his gaze to the ground and took a deep breath. When he looked back up, his eyes were slightly glazed. This was not what you had expected. 

“I love you, too.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Bye, bye, love you. Mwah.” You blew kisses and waved goodbye to all your friends, exchanging hugs, before following Mick back to the car and, since it mattered that much, letting him open the door for you. Your face was flushed and you were sweating slightly from dancing and laughing and running around. Prom was everything you wanted and more.

You arrived back at your house, disappointed that the night was coming to an end. Oh, well. It was a night you’d never forget.  _ Perfect. _

“Bye,” you waved at Mick walking up the steps to your house. Then you stopped, remembering you still had on his jacket. “Wait, here!” You started to go back to the car. 

“Keep it. You can give it back to me on Monday.”  _ Right, on Monday things were back to normal. _ You practically glowed. 

“Bye, for real this time.” You laughed. “I- I love you.”

“I love you too, angel.” He drove off and you went inside, smiling to yourself.  _ That was perfect. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love how I always trigger tag cursing, and then proceed to curse in the trigger tags
> 
> I was gonna put this in the summary but it was already hella long so...I don’t usually like to put height related descriptions in my X Reader things because tall people do not get any representation in this shit. I did however for this one assume you are shorter than 6’4. If you’re 6’5 my bad


	14. Paul Teaches You to Play Bass (Paul X Reader platonically)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Paul teaches you to play bass a little.  
> PSA: I DO NOT PLAY BASS, only guitar so idk how accurate this is. I did my best, watched a lot of videos of him.
> 
> I feel bad because I wanted it to be longer, but it’s a little shorty right now.  
> Oh also in real life Paul is left handed, but I really didn’t want to get into that, so either you can be left handed too or you can just ignore it.
> 
> Trigger warnings: cursing, tiny alcohol scene- just casual drinking, very chill

You rang the doorbell outside Paul’s house and waited, bouncing on your toes for him to answer. Today was exciting, you’d talked with Paul on the phone till almost three am last night and somewhere in there convinced him to show you how to play his bass.  
In the very back of your mind, part of you knew this was going to be a disaster and chuckled softly at the thought of what he had gotten himself into. You didn’t know the first thing about basses except that Paul played them like a god. 

Every now and then, someone had the nerve to say he wasn’t a very good bassist, that the rifts were simple or boring. _And_ , every now and then Paul had to restrain you from kicking the shit out of whichever fuckhead said that.

The door opened and your smile widened. 

“Hey, come on in.” Paul motioned for you to come inside, pulling you into a hug and closing the door behind him. “You psyched?” 

“Uh huh.” 

“I can tell. You look like you’re about to explode.” You shrugged.

“I had a lot of coffee this morning.” You grinned at him, nearly dragging him towards the garage that he had converted into a makeshift music studio to practice and keep his guitars in. 

“Slow down, we have time. I cleared my schedule for you.” 

“Aww that’s sweet.” You weren’t buying it. “Exactly how full was your schedule if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Not.”

“I thought so.” 

Upon entering the garage your eyes swept around the room. You’d been here once before, but it felt different somehow. A small twinge of anxiety flipped in your chest. Of course Paul was your friend and there was no pressure to be fantastic right away, but you wanted to make him proud. You wanted to show off how receptive you were and make him feel good about teaching you. Whether or not that was an achievable goal, remained to be seen.

“Here, let’s go over there.” Paul pointed to some chairs in the center of the room, surrounded by amps and other equipment. You sat down, bouncing your leg as he tried to figure out where to start. “Lemme see your hands.” You held out your hands, bitten fingernails and all.

He made a face. 

“What? What’s wrong with my hands?” He shook his head and held up his own hands, motioning for you to press against them. You realized what he meant when he easily curled his fingertips over yours. 

“Small. This is going to be harder for you than it was for me.” You just shrugged.

“I’m up for the challenge.”

Paul grinned.

“Okay then, let’s get started.” He pulled a bass off the rack and it started to feel more intimidating. He was right, it was going to be tough. He paused, flipping his lip ring with his tongue. “Okay, it’s heavy, you got it?” You took the guitar from him, even with a warning it still felt massive. 

He grabbed a bass for himself and scooted a chair next to you so he could reach over and move your fingers across the fretboard. He picked every string to check if it was in tune, and with an adjustment to the D string, he was all set up.

“Duality?”

“Huh?”

“You wanna learn duality?” You blinked. _Was he fucking serious?_

“Hell yeah! Wait won’t it be super hard?” He made a “sorta” gesture with his hand.

“It’s not that bad, especially if you’ve got a good teacher.” He nudged you with his elbow. “Just give me a quick sec to warm up.” _Uh huh, yeah by “warm up” he meant show off_. Not that you really minded. It was cool to watch him play.

“Right, let’s fucking go. The bass isn’t in standard tuning by the way, so it wouldn’t work very well on a guitar that wasn’t tuned like this.” You nodded.

“I’ll break it up. So, first thing is open E string for fifteen, well really it’s B now, but same thing. Then third fret six times, sixth fret once, and then a pause. Okay?” It was not okay, that sounded like a lot and you had already forgotten the first part. Your face must have betrayed your panic, because Paul slowed down. 

“Here, I’ll show you first, slowly, and then I’ll help.” 

He played the intro, once at tempo, once slowed down, and then finally just the part he’d described to you. It didn’t seem so bad anymore. You only had to move your hand around the fretboard twice and it was even easier since the first note was open. A few picks were tossed on an amp next to you. You grabbed one a black one and held it up. 

“Can I use this?” 

“Oh yeah of course, I forgot sorry.” _So open, then third fret._ You moved your hand to rest around the third fret, laying your fingers lightly over the other strings. You picked the first string a few times, surprised and then satisfied when the vibrations radiated through your chest. You looked up at Paul, smiling brightly.

“ _This_ makes me happy.” He waved his hands in your direction. You blushed. He was the sweetest sometimes. “So fifteen times the open string, just like you were doing and then eight times on the third fret. Yeah, press down right there. You got it.”

It was going great until the third fret part. You pressed down as hard as you could, your hand already starting to ache, but only succeeded in making a deep thwack sound. Your face turned red. _That went well._ Paul just laughed.

“Don’t worry I used to do that all the time, still do sometimes. You just have to build up strength in your hands. Calluses help too. Here feel.” He held out his hand, looking amused when you touched the tips of his fingers. 

“No offense, but I don’t want my hands to feel like that.”

He laughed.

“‘Tis the life of a bass player. Sad, but true. Try again, I promise you won’t get calluses in one day.” 

_Attempt number two_. It was better, still not very clean, but the note rang out instead of getting lost. Your confidence spurred. Attempt three was better, and then attempt four, and soon you were begging Paul to teach you the next few notes. 

“First fret four times, then third, back to first, and open.” You squeezed your fingers down onto the frets, groaning when you were met with more thwacks. _It gets harder to press down the closer you get to the top._ You stopped and shook out your hand. 

“Jesus how the fuck do you do this all day?”

He shrugged.

“Practice, boredom, and working with the band sometimes is fun. Hey, keep at it and you can be our tenth member. Or we could just kick Jim out and keep the number at nine.” You shoved him lightly on the arm, regretting it when your hand throbbed.

“You fuck, you cannot kick Jim out. Besides, I suck. Maybe if you keep helping me, one day I won’t suck anymore. But that day is not today, or tomorrow, really not for a long time probably.” Paul laughed and pulled you into a side hug. 

“Can we go inside for a sec Paul? I think my hand is going to fall off.” 

“Sure.”

When you got to the kitchen Paul peeked inside the fridge.

“Beer?” 

“Sure.” You stretched up to catch the can he tossed your way, almost accidentally letting it slide out of your grip. “And folks, that is why Paul plays bass and not football,” you commented to an invisible audience.

“Comedian today aren’t we?”

“Always.” You plopped down on the couch scooting over when Paul sat down next to you. 

“Ay, move,” he warned. “Every time we fucking do this you end up latching onto me like a fucking-“ he snapped his fingers. “Ah fuck, the little things Shawn doesn’t like.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Koalas! You end up stuck to me like a fucking koala.” You scoffed.

“Fine, your loss though.”

You sipped your beer, wincing at the shitty taste and ignoring Paul by gluing your eyes to whatever shitty movie was on the TV. Eventually he got fed up.

“Jesus, I didn’t mean it like that.” He grabbed your ankle and tugged you back over. “You just fuckin’ strangle me sometimes.” You leaned against his shoulder. _T_ _his is much better._

“I know. We should do this again sometime. I want to be amazing for when I audition to be in Slipknot.” He laughed.

“Thought you said you didn’t want to be in Slipknot.”

“Eh, changed my mind.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't have a ton of ideas lined up at this point. Anyone want another one where the Slipknot member is "evil" again? Like, while we're doing cliches, anyone want to get kidnapped? If so by whom?
> 
> Anyways, now is a great time to make requests folks  
> Thanks y'all are awesome!!


	15. Prom Part 2, but with Jim and it's different (Jim X Reader)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So yeah idk this was my other prom themed one shot idea, lil bit different, really working that Savior!Complex
> 
> Kay so your prom date, who may or may not be Brian Warner, abandons you, and while you’re waiting for your brother (Corey this time) to pick you up, you meet Jim a lonely college boy who's date abandoned him too, I'm kinda sad about how this turned out, it could have been so much better but I'm tired so
> 
> Trigger warnings: cursing, smoking (cigarettes), that's pretty much it

“Joey have you seen Brian? I haven’t seen him for a while and he’s my ride so…” Your smile fell when Joey grimaced. 

“Uhh dude I’m sorry, but I’m pretty sure Brain just left with Robyn.” He checked his watch. “Yeah, I saw them walk out probably five minutes ago. I don’t know if they actually left though. You still might be able to catch them.”

“Yeah, I think I’m going to go look for him, thanks Joey. You look really nice tonight by the way.” You gave him a quick hug before running out of the auditorium and into the parking lot. Brian had parked on the far end, close to a tree you remembered, but upon checking, his car was gone, no sign of that obnoxious license plate: SAY10. That bastard left. 

“Ugh!” Subconsciously, your hands balled into fists. This was supposed to be _your_ prom, _your_ night, but that asshole left with someone else. Part of you wanted to stamp your foot like an indignant child and another part wanted to take a crowbar to his headlights. But the part that won was the part that wanted to go home and sleep it all away. 

You grabbed your cell phone out of your bag and called your brother. Brian had driven you to the dance and without him you were stranded. If you asked, one of your friends would have surely given you a lift at the end of the night, but right now, nothing sounded more attractive than eating M&Ms on the couch and watching your favorite show. And nothing sounded less attractive than going back inside.

He picked up and you sighed.

“Hey Cor, will you come pick me up? Brian had to leave early.” The dejection in your voice was obvious and Corey definitely wasn’t stupid.

“Yeah, of course. It might be a while though. I’m at Paul’s so the drive is longer, but I’ll leave as soon as I can.”

“Thanks,” you mumbled.

“Wait, what happened?”

“Nothing happened. He just had to go.”

“That’s a fat fucking lie and we both know it.”

“Ugh, I just- he left with someone else.” You pinched the bridge of your nose, closing your eyes. 

“Oh...I’m sorry. Listen I’ll be there as soon as I can, just sit tight.” 

“Yeah, okay. Thanks Cor, love you.”

“Yeah no problem. I’ll beat him up if you want?” The noise you let out was somewhere between a laugh and a choked cough.

“Good luck with that. You’re like 5’8 right? Brian is 6’1. What color flowers do you want on your casket?”

“Shut up. I’ll be there in half an hour I hope. Love ya.” Click. You checked the time. 7:05. _Great, I’m going to be here all damn night_ , _might as well find somewhere to sit down_. 

You didn’t want to stray too far from the parking lot, in case Corey came early so you started walking, somewhat aimlessly, until you remembered there was a waiting area for kids who took the bus near the library. It was shielded from view on two sides by big planters and there were a few benches to sit on. _Perfect. I really don’t want to talk to people right now._

Your pace quickened, shoes tapping against the concrete. As the spot came into view, you slowed, someone else was already there. You stopped, hoping they hadn’t noticed you yet and contemplated whether or not it was worth it. You wanted to be left alone, but this boy didn’t look familiar. Maybe he was some else’s date and didn’t go to your school. _Whatever, it can’t be_ **_that_ ** _bad._

You sat on the bench furthest away from him, sneaking what you hoped were subtle glances. Not that you wanted to talk to him, just...curious. Damn, he was tall. Even sitting down you could tell he was giant, and not bad looking either. _Fuck, not this again._ You were done with boys, Brian was an asshole and so was every other highschool boy on the planet. Nope, not for a loooong time. 

Blinking, you tried to get a grip on yourself, slumping in your seat and casting your eyes somewhere else. Against your will, your thoughts quickly drifted back to Brian. Thinking back, all the signs were. He didn’t date much, but when he did it often ended explosively, a dramatic break up in the hallway or a social media feud or threats from both sides about what dirt they had on each other. It never phased him though. At this point everyone knew him, and that wasn’t necessarily a good thing. He wasn’t really popular, more like infamous. 

As much as you didn’t want to admit it, you’d turned a blind eye when he’d shown interest. It had been a long time since your last relationship, and his occasionally raunchy flirting techniques were strangely flattering. It was surprising when he asked you to prom. You naturally assumed he wouldn’t, considering your relationship was fairly new and not at all serious, but you were going to go anyway and saying no just didn’t make much sense.

 _Hindsight is 20/20_ . You didn’t realize you were chewing on your lip until the taste of blood filled your mouth. _Gross_. You dropped your face into your hands and sucked in a deep breath, letting it out slowly and feeling your pulse beat a little stronger.

“Fuck that was dumb,” you whispered to yourself. “I never should’ve…” trusted him? Gotten involved? Spared him a second glance or a moment of attention? The list could go on forever. “Jesus fucking christ, ughhh.” 

Something tapped your shoulder and you nearly jumped out of your skin. Looking up, you found the boy had walked over and sat next to you on the bench. You gaped at him, mouth slightly open, till your eyes landed on the cigarette he held out to you. You took it, hand shaking slightly, and muttered a quiet, “thanks.” He flicked on a lighter and lit your cigarette before pulling one out of a half empty cartoon for himself. 

It hit the spot and quickly Brian became irrelevant. All you had to worry about was breathing in and out, in and out, tapping the ashes onto the ground in between. 

Eventually you remembered there was an actual person next to you, a stranger no less, who had just given you a cigarette on school property. 

“Thank you,” you said it properly this time. 

“No problem. Not to be rude, but it looks like you needed it.” 

“Uh huh,” your voice was thick with misery. His eyes narrowed.

“I’m Jim, by the way.” He held out a large hand. You took it, feeling very small all of a sudden.

“I’m ____. I haven’t seen you around here before. You’re not a student here are you?” He shook his head.

“No, I go to West Valley College. A girl named Madison invited me.” Yep, you were familiar with Madison. “However, I was abandoned pretty quickly and it dawned on me that I was being used to make someone else jealous. This is why I don’t date high school girls.” A blush crept into your cheeks. _Wait, why am I blushing? I don’t even know this guy._ You pinched yourself. He noticed.

“Yeah, uh Madison can be a real piece of work sometimes.”

“She lied to me. A lot. Honestly I don’t know why I put up with her for so long, but what the hell, it happened and there’s nothin’ I can do about it.” He scuffed his boot against the concrete. 

“I’m sorry, that sucks.” You tossed the burnt out cigarette onto the ground and crushed it with your shoe before picking it up and throwing it away in a nearby trash can. 

“It’s whatever.” Jim paused, studying you. “Sorry, that was kind of rude of me. I came over here to ask what’s up with you and ended up talking about myself.” Okay now your face was turning really red.

“It’s nothing, just stupid high school problems.” You crossed your arms over your chest, looking away. He laughed dryly.

“I walked into that one didn’t I?” You couldn’t help but nod. He kinda did. “Sorry, forgot where I was I guess. You can still tell me what happened if you want. I don’t mind listening.” 

“Well uh, I was abandoned too I guess. Yeah, the guy who invited me left with someone else without telling me. I mean, I don’t really know why he would tell me first, but it would have been nice to know he was leaving so I could figure out how to get home.” 

“You don’t have a ride?”

“Nope, but I called my brother so he should be here…” you checked your phone. “In like ten minutes.” He nodded.

“Okay, that’s good.” An awkward silence fell. The wind had picked up slightly and a breeze was raising goosebumps on your arms. Your jacket was more for style than function since you weren’t expecting to be outside for very long. You rubbed your hands up and down your arms and pulled your feet up onto the bench in front of you, effectively curling into a ball. 

“You want my jacket?” He held one side open, smiling warmly. 

“Huh?” You looked up, surprised.

“You’re shivering. You want to wear my jacket?” Yes, you did. 

“Are- are you sure? Don’t you need it?”

“No, I run hot. I’m fine in this weather.” _I'm sorry, you run what?_

“Okay then.” Inside you were screaming. He draped the jacket around your shoulders and you nearly melted under it. It was way too big for you, practically big enough to be a blanket and he wasn’t kidding when he said he ran hot, the inside of that jacket chased away the cold faster than you could say jack rabbit. 

“Thank you, this is much better.” When you turned back to him, he was grinning like someone told him he just won the lottery tax free. 

“No problem. Looks cute on you.” _Excuse me could you repeat that? I think I misheard._ What is he doing? First it’s “I don’t like high school girls” then he hits on a high schooler? If indeed that’s what he was doing? Lord, this was getting complicated. You bit your lip, more out of anxiety than trying to flirt. 

“Umm thanks.” You tilted your head forward slightly so you could inhale the scent of his jacket, hoping he wouldn’t notice. You tried to keep a straight face, but suspected he wasn’t buying it. You gave up and cracked a smile. “So is this the part of the movie where we’re supposed to slow dance even though there’s no music?”

Jim chuckled.

“I think so, but I have two left feet so that might not be a good idea.” Your eyes widened.

“Oh no, I mean I wasn’t actually suggesting that,” you shook your head. “Not that that would be bad, because it wouldn’t, I mean, I just-” You gave up, burying your face in your hands. “Whatever,” you mumbled. Your phone pinged and you sat up. It was a text from Corey.

“Oh no,” you sighed.

“What?” 

“Nothing, it’s just my brother texted me which I don’t think is a very good sign.” You were right.

> Hey so sorry but I got held up, i’ll be another 15 minutes

“Ugh, it’s gonna take him longer to get here than he thought.”

“You know if you want I could drive you home.” He smirked slightly. “If you’re okay with getting into practically a stranger’s car.” You thought about it. He made a good point. You didn’t know him and that was pretty much rule number one of safety first, don’t get in cars with strangers. But then again, he seemed genuine and you _really_ wanted to get home.

“You know what, fuck it. Sure.”

“Great, my car is this way.” He stood up and motioned for you to follow him. His car was nice and the inside smelled good. You curled up in the seat, taking full advantage of his jacket, knowing you would have to give it back in a minute. 

“What’s your address?” You gave it to him and he entered it into the GPS. 

“This was cool, Jim. For getting abandoned by my date at prom, it wasn’t half bad.” 

“Agreed.” He reached over and grabbed your hand, holding it in his lap and rubbing his thumb back and forth over your skin. “We should do this again sometime. Maybe in better circumstances?” You nodded, grinning like an idiot.

“Yeah okay. Where’s your phone? I'll give you my number.” He handed it to you and you typed it in, changing the contact to your name followed by “(prom date).” He laughed when he saw it and you were relieved he thought it was okay.

The ride was over a little too quickly for your liking. Jim was just getting into talking about a band he was in and it sounded really cool. He walked you to the front door of your house. 

“Thanks for driving me home. I really appreciate it.” You bounced on your toes slightly, not really knowing what to do.

“Yeah of course, no problem. See you soon?”

“Yeah, yeah I’d like that.” He bent down a little to give you a hug and you felt your chest squeeze as he walked away. You pulled out your key and started to unlock the door, but fumbled and dropped it on the ground. You kept waiting to hear Jim’s car drive away, but it didn’t. 

“Why are you still here?” You called to him.

“Just wanna make sure you get inside okay.” What a gentleman.

“Umm thank you, bye!” You waved and stepped inside your house, closing the door and leaning against it, your brain attempting to process everything that just happened. _Well, that was interesting._ Your phone chimed and you expected a text from Corey, but instead it was a number you didn't recognize. A smile spread across your face.

> i had fun, call me sometime :) -J

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey so @glitchesaintshit I know this isn't what you wanted but I hope you still like it, idk I feel bad for changing it


	16. Hate to Hookup (Sid X Reader)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm not proud of this, Sid is way too nice for this, man is a little crazy, but he has a lovely heart, yeah also I don't mean the bad things in this, I mean I think you folks know that, but I felt like clarifying just in case bc I love Sid (loml)
> 
> Summary: Sid is your best friends brother and you guys hate each other, but oh no what happens when your friend leaves you two alone for a few hours?????  
> I also kinda realized halfway through writing this that it's the reverse of what happens with Sid in the Corey sic oneshot
> 
> Trigger warnings: implied smut/PG-13 teaser, cursing

“Sara, Sara, come on you can’t leave me with him!” You whisper yelled at your best friend waving in the direction of her brother. “He’s insane.” She rolled her eyes.

“Stop being such a drama queen. He’s fine. Has a little too much energy, but just ignore him and you’ll be okay. Look he’s sleeping now.” She patted your arm and you pushed her hand away. 

“Pfft, that won’t be a problem he fucking hates me.”

“Great so he’ll leave you alone. I’m gonna go now. Bye.” She swung her backpack over her shoulder, walking out the door as if you weren’t muttering obscenities at her. _Fuck._

You put your head in your hands and groaned. Why did she have to leave you practically stranded in an unfamiliar place with her idiot twin brother? _Fantastic idea it was to bring him with us during Christmas break._

You sat at the kitchen table on the opposite end of the room as Sid, who was stretched out on the couch napping. Honestly, you didn’t really remember why you started hating Sid, probably because he hated you first. How that started though, was still a mystery in your mind. 

You picked at your nails, staring at him while he slept. He was so weird. Covered in tattoos, changed his hair color nearly every week, dressed strangely, and he was a DJ for christ’s sake. Not to mention how rambunctious he was with his friends. There were many times when Sara had to yell at him for being too loud while you guys were having a study date before midterms. 

You met Sara in college, freshman year, and moved into an apartment together by the time you were sophomores. Sid didn’t go to your college and she never mentioned him, so you didn’t know he existed til you went to their parent’s house for Thanksgiving. 

And boy was that a surprise. At first it was nothing. He seemed interesting, but you mostly kept to yourselves, on the occasion you ran into each other it was always civil. Then something changed and it felt like a switch flipped to make him start hating you. You had no idea why and eventually just started hating him back. Why should you play nice if he wasn’t going to?

Shaking your head, you pulled out your phone, scrolling through social media. This was annoying, why did Sara insist on leaving? Why couldn’t you come with her? You checked the time and sighed. She said she would be back in a few hours, which meant there was a long way to go. 

Eventually, you hit your limit of dumbass internet clickbait and looked around trying to decide what to do. There was a TV, but it was in front of the couch Sid was sleeping on. There were two options that came with it; one, keep the volume really low and use subtitles, or two, turn the volume really high and wake him up on purpose. 

You grabbed the remote and perched as far away from him as you could on the couch, muting the TV before turning it on. You decided to be nice, especially because if he woke up, he’d probably be pissed. 

Flicking through the channels, you saw that reruns of Law and Order were looping. _Okay, I can get into that._ It wasn’t your favorite, but it was mindless and easy to watch, plus playing the sound wasn’t that important. 

You leaned back into the pillows and let yourself relax. Eventually you started feeling tired, somehow the antics of New York's finest detectives weren’t the same without their theme song. You yawned and let your eyes close, falling asleep to the wind whistling outside and the whirring of the heater. 

Sometime later you were still half asleep, hoping to go back to being full asleep, and shifting around on the couch to get in a more comfy position. You stretched, nearly jumping out of your skin when you felt something touch your foot. Bolting upright, your gaze fell on Sid, his leg being what your foot had touched. 

He was staring, blank faced, and you prayed you hadn’t woken him up. 

“Umm, hi. Did I accidentally kick you?” He blinked, as if coming out of a trance, and shook his head.

“No, no it’s fine. I was already up.” There was an awkward pause before either of you moved. “So uh Sara left right?”

“Yeah, she said something about needing to see a friend, I don’t remember. She’ll be back in a few hours.” 

“Fantastic,” he grumbled. _Well that didn't take long._ You rolled your eyes and went back to the kitchen, pulling out your head phones. You sat down, put a playlist on shuffle, and rested your forehead on the table, feeling the wood press against your skin. _That’s gonna leave a mark, but whatever, I’m tired._

Your peace was interrupted a moment later when music you didn’t recognize started blasting through the room. _Sid._ You ripped out your ear buds. 

“Sid turn it off!” You yelled across the room, glaring at him. Wait, the music wasn’t half bad, it sounded like metal only more grindy and industrial. Even after thinking hard, you still didn’t recognize it. You stood up and walked to the stereo where Sid was fiddling with some buttons. On the way you tried to figure out whether you wanted to tell him to shut the fuck up or ask him what band this was. 

He didn’t hear you coming and whipped around when you tapped his shoulder.

“Turn it off!” The music was so loud you could barely think. He just smiled arrogantly. “I’m serious!” You shoved his chest lightly and he stumbled back a step. He held up his hands in surrender and lowered the volume. “What was that anyways?” 

“Me.” You cocked your head. “My band, Slipknot.” You said nothing for a moment, dumbfounded. He was a DJ, what was he doing in a rock band? 

“Oh, so that’s why it sucked.” No way was he getting the satisfaction of knowing you liked it. Sid furrowed his eyebrows. It must have been a sore spot for him. 

“Get used to it.” He shrugged and turned it back up, adjusting the bass level. 

“Wha- hey! Stop, turn it off.” He pointed to his ears and mouthed “sorry can’t hear you.” _Ugh, that asshole!_ “Sid I’m serious! Come on!” He gave you the finger and turned away. This was ridiculous. You stomped around to the other side of the stereo and yanked the cord out of the wall, shutting it down. Sid’s head snapped up so fast, you almost worried it was going to fly off.

“What’d you do that for?” Oh shit, he was mad. You didn’t say anything, just started inching backwards away from him. “Don’t walk away from me. The fuck did I ever do to you?” You stopped, confused.

“What?” 

“No you fuckin’ heard me. The fuck did I ever do to you that you have to come over here and mess with my shit? I was minding my own damn business and you come over here _insult me_ and then mess with my stuff. Close your fuckin’ mouth by the way.” Your face got hot, you hadn’t realized your mouth had fallen open. Your hands balled into fist. _What the fuck is he on?_

“That’s a lie and you know it. You were playing that shit too loud on purpose to annoy me.” He scoffed.

“No, I was playing it loud so I could make sure it was mixed well. Jesus christ, not everything is about you.”

“Well shit, what now? You want me to say sorry? Sorry for interrupting your little ‘jam sesh’?” 

“Whatever, just go away. I’ll keep it down.” You let out a satisfied “hmm,” before spinning on your heel and starting back towards the kitchen.

“Fuckin’ bitch,” Sid whispered under his breath, but not quietly enough that you didn’t hear it.

“ _Excuse me_ , what did you just call me?” You went back over to him, tapping his shoulder a few times so he couldn’t ignore you. He just smirked, licking his bottom lip.

“Bitch.” He said it so matter of factly that part of you wanted to punch him in his smug little face. 

“I don’t get it,” you paused, noticing his side eyed curiosity. “You asked me what my problem was, when really, if I recall correctly, it was you who started being such a dick.” 

“You recall incorrectly then.”

“Nuh uh. Everything was fine until that one day your obnoxious friends were over while me and Sara were getting ready to go out, and blondie or whatever the fuck his name is fucking whistled at me and all of a sudden I was public enemy number one.” He didn’t say anything, but there was something in his face you couldn’t read.

“Finally you shut up for once,” your voice was even, gloating. No way would you let him get in your head. He pointed a finger at you.

“One more word and I swear I’ll-”

“You’ll what?” You cut him off. “No, I want to know what the fuck you think you’re going to do.” Somehow you two were only inches apart by now having subconsciously gravitated towards each other. “ _Well?_ ”

He raised a hand like he was going to slap you, and you raised your eyebrows. 

“You won’t.” 

He didn’t, instead he grabbed your hand and pulled you close to him, your stomach twisting into a knot. You had a suspicion of what was about to happen next, yet something still wouldn’t let you move away. Not hesitating for a second he leaned in, feverishly pressing his lips against yours. At first contact a million things flew through your mind at once; _why am I not pulling away? I’m supposed to hate him, I’m supposed to hate this_. 

Hate could not have been further from the truth, unless it was meant to rival the intensity of what you were _actually_ feeling. A shiver ran up your spine. Everything started to feel surreal and your hands latched onto him for support, one over his shoulder and one on his waist. His lips were surprisingly soft and he smelled nice, like something minty and woodsy. _Damn, he’s good at this._

There was a fleeting moment, so quick that you didn’t quite believe it was real where he broke the kiss, resting his forehead against yours, smiling softly, and for a second your breathing was in sync. It was so incredibly...intimate. 

Sid pulled away and you could clearly see the realization hit him that that just happened because you were having it too. No one moved, until you both eventually remembered your hands were holding onto each other like there was a strong wind and without it you would float away. 

He backed away awkwardly, chewing his lip.

“I uhh,” he swallowed. “That was out of bounds of me. I’m, I’m sorry.” Okay, maybe it was out of bounds, but that didn’t change the fact that you were disappointed when it ended.

“No. I um, I thought it was fine actually.” There really wasn’t much to lose by admitting the truth. His eyes narrowed.

“You did?” The floor suddenly seemed very interesting and you looked away, but nodded nonetheless. He let out a quiet sigh of relief. 

“Good, because I’ve wanted to do that for a long time.”

“You did?” You tossed his words back at him. 

“Mhmm.”

“But, I thought you hated me.”

“No, I hated that ‘blondie’, as you so called him, liked you. I don’t know if I was necessarily jealous, but I do know that if he ever came within six feet of you I would set fire to his fedora collection.” You wrinkled your nose.

“Ew he wears fedoras?” 

“Eh, kinda pulls it off, kinda looks like a tool.” He shrugged.

“Well, you don’t have to worry about him anymore.” Sid raised an eyebrow.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“You tell me.” You grabbed his hand, interlacing your fingers.

“I see.” A huge smirk appeared on his face. “So you’re saying I get to call the shots?”

“Mayyyyybe. For now.” Your voice assumed a teasing manner.

“Great, cause I have some ideas.” 


	17. Mini One-shots on what the guys would do if you asked them to wear their mask during s*x

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We're doing something a lil different today folks. Wow, I really didn't think we'd get here this fucking fast. Well fuck. I *really* don't like writing sexual things about Slipknot, but uhh this was kinda tempting. It's not explicit really, mostly implied smut. 
> 
> Eh, basically it's a small snippet of what (I imagine) would happen if you asked some of the guys to wear their mask during s*x or whatever  
> ALSO: Before any of you get all "holier than thou" on my ass, shut the fuck up we all know why you're here.  
> Trigger warnings: cursing, sexual content duh (not explicit)

**How the guys would react to you asking them to keep their mask on during s*x:**

**Mick** :

He stopped completely, pulling away and giving you a strange look.

“You want me to what?”

“K-keep the mask on on for…” you trailed off hoping he would get the hint. His eyebrows furrowed, he was considering it.

“Just leave it on the whole time?” he asked. You nodded.

“Yeah, I uh always kinda wanted to try it.” By now you were blushing furiously.

“But it covers my mouth, and I want to kiss you.”

“Fine, fine it’s okay, don’t do it.” You sighed and dragged your hands down your face, mortified.

“I mean if you really want it?” He raised an eyebrow and you could tell he'd shifted from skeptical to obscenely curious.

“Yeah,” your voice shook. He smirked slightly and crossed his arms, voice dropping low.

“You can’t even say it, and I can’t tell if it’s because you’re embarrassed or you just want it _that_ badly.” Your stomach knotted.

“God, does it matter?” Speaking was becoming increasingly difficult. He was toying with you now, and you were loving every second of it.

“No, not in the slightest.” Mick grabbed the mask from where it was resting on the table. “Ready?”

“Mhmm.”

**Corey** :

He had you backed against a wall and you could practically feel the blood boiling under his skin. Damn, the show must have gotten him riled up. He reached behind to pull off his mask. 

“No don’t take it off.” You pushed his hands away from the buckle around the back of his head.

“What?”

“I mean keep it on. I want you to.” Unable to look him in the eyes, you traced his bottom lip with your finger, feeling the black paint stick to your skin when you pulled away.

“Why?” Mustering what was left of your courage, you looked back up, relishing the feeling of his gaze burning into you. Shyness be damned.

“Because it’s fucking hot,” you whispered in his ear. His eyes narrowed for a second, then a slick grin split across his face and his grip on your body tightened.

“Yeah okay. You're fucking in for it though.” Holy shit.

"I was counting on it."

**Chris** :

He touched his nose and looked you up and down.

“Yeah I don’t think it’s going to fit.”

“Oh my god, that’s not what I meant. Just _wear_ the mask, don’t…you know.” You held out a finger and jerked it upwards a few times. He cracked a smile.

“I still don’t know how it’s going to work. It’s going to hit you in the face.” He had a point, you didn’t think this far ahead. Before you weren’t even sure he would agree to it.

“What if I’m on top?” You offered. He bit his lip and something flashed though his eyes. “That way I can lean down to you and avoid getting my eye stabbed out. Come on please. I’m literally giving you a free pass to not do any work.” He placed his hands on your hips.

“Don’t worry I’ll do some of the work too.” You breathed a sigh of relief, glad that he was okay with it.

“You’re amazing,” and you pulled him in for a kiss.

**Shawn** :

“You want me to leave the mask on?” He was grinning like Christmas had just come _really_ early this year.

“Y-yeah.” You chewed your lip nervously.

“Nervous?” He read your mind.

“Mhmm.”

“Good, you should be.” He cupped the side of your face, brushing his thumb across your cheek. Your eyes widened, heart rate speeding up. Wait what? You couldn't tell whether he was joking or not.

“What?” You choked out.

“Hey, hey,” he soothed. “Just fun. You’re safe, I promise. Okay?” He kissed your cheek.

“I know,” you breathed. He reached behind for the mask.

“Can I?” he looked at you expectantly. You nodded, backing away and pulling off your shirt with a smile on your face.

“Come an’ get me.”

**Joey** :

He didn’t say anything for a long time, so long that it started to worry you.

“Jesus christ, will you say something please? Really making me feel good about telling you shit like this, Joey.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you liked this before?”

“I, what-?” He was trying desperately to hold back a smile and failing miserably.

“You should have told me.” He took both your hands in his.

“I was just embarrassed and I didn’t want you to think I was weird.”

“You thought _I_ would think _you_ were weird?”

“I mean yeah. It scares me and I like…that,” the last few words were barely above a whisper.

“Don’t you think it’s weirder that I’m the one getting off on you being scared?” So he _is_ into it. You shrugged, blushing. “We’re both weird already, absolutely no point in being embarrassed about this.” You tugged him closer by his belt loops and pulled him against you, kissing him deeply.

“Fuck, I love you.”

**Sid** :

“Really?” Sid wore the biggest smug smile you had ever seen.

“Uh huh. Really,” your tone was flat. How many goddamn times was he going to make you say it?

“Wow, you uh-,” he looked you up and down. “You been hiding anything else from me? Or is this it?” You just shook your head.

“Is that a yes or a no?”

“Oh my god it doesn’t matter. Are you gonna wear the mask or not?”

“Oh hell yeah. Can we do it in front of a mirror though?” He licked his bottom lip.

 _“Why?”_ You cocked your head. 

“Because I want to watch you fuck a freak from more than one angle.” You rolled your eyes, but couldn’t help the shiver that ran down your spine.

“Don’t make me regret this Sidney.”

“Shut up, you love it.” 

"Yeah," you flashed him a coy smile. "I really do." You clasped your hands behind his neck, tilting your head towards where his mask was sitting on a bookshelf. "Come on, _freak_."

**Jim:**

“You want me to wear my mask?” He sounded skeptical.

“Umm, yeah. Only if you want to though. I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable about it.”

“Why?” You shrugged. 

“I don’t know, it’s just a… fantasy, I guess.” By now your face was practically beet red, talking to him about this was way more awkward than you thought it would be. “God, you probably think I’m so weird right now.” You pressed your face into your hands, unable to meet his gaze any more.

“Actually I get it.” You looked up. This was a surprise. “I mean, I’ve said it before, the mask makes me feel stronger, makes it easier to just take what I want.” _Oh_ . _Okay_.

“And you want what exactly?” You raised your eyebrows at him. He cracked a smile, pushing his hair out of his face.

“You already know.”

“I most certainly do not.”

He made a “come here” motion with his finger and you got up and stood in front of him where he was sitting on the couch. He held out a hand and you took it.

“No, you definitely do, because I tell you every damn day.” He tugged you onto his lap, reaching for the mask that was laying on top of the coffee table. You bit your lip, trying to hold back a smile, as he slid it over his head. 

“Mask’s on now, you gonna take what you want?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lord I need some holy water.  
> All I could think when I was writing about Corey was "god this man is a father what am I doing?"
> 
> Also weirdly I always find Joey hard to write about because there are two ways people write him: 1. the gayest twink you will ever see 2. real dominant and *daddy*, and there's absolutely no in between  
> Personally, I really don't think he's either, so I'm trying to find a middle ground but it's hard
> 
> Anyways, even though that was fun to write, I feel horrible right now so I probably won't do something like that for a while at least  
> Hey, tell me what you think though, I'd like to know how cringey and awful it was
> 
> EDIT: Writing Jim's thingy was really fucking hard, because I have two ideas of him in my head, one where he's like aggressive or something (idk), and the other is how he actually is, kinda shy and awkward, and I had to combine them now and lord I rewrote this so many times and I still think it sucks


	18. Helping Chris During the Early Years (Chris X Reader)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ayy so there's a bonus with this one. I was gonna do something fluffy and wrote like a page of it, but then I decided I'd rather write something gut wrenching, so uh we went with the gut wrenching one. However I did put the fluffy thing at the end just for shits and giggles, cuz like where else is it gonna go?
> 
> Summary: The guys were being dicks to Chris (I mention Corey the most, but that's just because he's the singer, I don't really know which of the guys were the worst to him), Chris is really torn up one day and you comfort him a little (damn that was one eloquent summary)
> 
> Trigger warnings: it hurts my soul not gonna lie, cursing, alcohol abuse kinda

The door to your house slammed shut loudly, followed by the sound of a backpack getting tossed to the side. Chris must have had a tough day you figured. Not only was he home late, but he hadn’t done the usual “Hey I’m home,” bit as he walked in. 

He appeared in the doorway to the kitchen where you were sitting at the table finishing some work, and you realized your initial judgement may have been slightly off. He wasn’t just angry, he looked like he was about to catch on fire. He stopped in front of you, hard eyes softening, trying to get his breathing under control.

“Chris baby, what’s wrong? Are you okay?” You reached out a hand and rubbed up and down his arm soothingly. He’d just come from band practice so it wasn’t all that abnormal for him to be riled up, but you’d never seen him like this before. He just continued staring before pulling away. 

“I swear, that punk Corey- I’m gonna let him have it one day. He’s a controlling jackass and I’m fucking sick of it. I have just as much stake in this as he does. Just because he’s the front man- he’s the singer- he’s the pretty boy, whatever, doesn’t mean he gets to boss everyone around.” He left the kitchen and sat down on the edge of the couch, resting his forearms on his thighs. 

“I just-” he waved his hand dismissively and scoffed. “I work so hard for this band only for the guys to treat me like shit.” You sat next to him on the couch and rubbed a hand up and down his back. Your head leaned against his shoulder and you intertwined your fingers with his.

“Fuck,” he said quietly, turning to face you. He shook his head. “I don’t know what I’m gonna do. Just have to take it I guess, for now.” You didn’t really know what to say. Slipknot was his life and it was horrible to see him upset like this. Sure Corey was the singer and the “front man,” but the band was Chris’s just as much as it was his. 

There wasn’t much to do other than be there for him at times like these. He didn’t really want you to get involved and you respected that. He leaned into you and squeezed your hand.

“Every damn day I get closer to punching his pretty boy face,” he joked solemnly. 

“Well, it’s good that you haven’t, because that is way number one to ensure he keeps being a dick to you.” 

“It’s not just him though. It’s all of them.” He dropped his head into his hands, sighing in defeat. “It almost doesn’t feel worth it anymore. I love this band, and I always will, but if the others never accept me, I’m going to end up doing more harm than good.”

“Chris it’s going to be okay, they’ll stop-”

“No they won’t,” he said bitterly. 

“Yes, they will and if they don’t it’s their loss.” He pinched the bridge of his nose and waved you away. 

“I just need to be alone right now. Please go.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. Yeah please go.”

“Okay, I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me.” This wasn’t good. No matter what happened Chris never pushed you away like this. He wasn’t the only one who wanted to punch Corey anymore. You tried to push it out of your mind, he clearly wanted to be left alone and there was nothing you could do. 

You returned to your work, but quickly realized there was no way you were going to get anything done worrying about Chris like this. You sighed and grabbed your phone and your wallet. Walking to the front door, you saw that Chris hadn’t moved from his spot on the couch.

“Hey, umm I’m going to go out for a sec. Call me if you need me, okay?” He just made an “mmmh” sound in response.

You didn’t really know where you were going, just that you needed to clear your head. The park sounded like a nice spot. It was really green this time of year and quiet during the late afternoons. 

On the way you pulled out your phone and dialed Jim. Of all the guys, Jim was the one you knew best and it was worth it to ask him what the hell happened today. Chris told you to stay out of it, but this seemed like a good enough excuse to break that rule.

Jim picked up. 

“Hi Jim.” You heard him sigh on the other end.

“Hey, I know why you’re calling.” So something _did_ happen, it wasn’t just their normal teasing.

“Yeah, Chris is pretty torn up right now. What did you guys do to him?” 

“It got out of hand really fast. Corey was being a dick and Chris called him out, but it just made him madder and then he started going off about how Chris would never be a real member of Slipknot; how he’s replaceable, he useless, and everyone hates him. That he doesn’t deserve to be number three.”

“And none of you stopped him?”

“No,” he sounded ashamed. “No we didn’t. It was such a shit show. Eventually he got fed up and left, but not before we said some things to him that I’m sure we all wish we could take back.” You were starting to get angry.

“Why do you guys do this to him? What did he ever do to you?”

“Truthfully, I don’t know. It just started.”

“Then stop. What are you going to do the day he decides not to put up with it anymore and quits the band?”

“Look I don’t know. I don’t think anyone likes this.”

“ _Then stop_ , I don’t get it.”

“I know this sounds like an asshole thing to say, but it’s not up to me. And I don’t recommend getting involved. I can only see that making it worse.”

“God, he doesn’t deserve this. I gotta go. See you around.”

“Bye.” 

This was so goddamn frustrating. They were being dicks purely for the sake of being dicks and it was weighing on Chris like anvils on his chest. You checked the time, half past six. Probably a good time to head home, maybe you and Chris could watch a movie and order pizza. 

Walking home, you mulled over what Jim had said. It really bothered you that he knew it was wrong, but either did it himself or let the others do it anyway. Chris said these guys were his “friends,” but friends don’t fuck with you until you feel worthless. 

You unlocked the door and stepped inside your house. 

“Chris! I’m home.” He didn’t answer. You continued to the living room, hoping that he was just watching TV or something. He wasn’t.

Nearly half a dozen beer bottles were on the coffee table in front of him and another was in his hand. Chris wasn’t a heavy drinker, so he had to be beyond wasted by now. 

“Chris!” You waved in front of him. He looked up, scowling. “Can you hear me?”

“Yeah,” he grumbled. 

“Can I take that?” You pointed to the bottle in his hand.

“Pfft, no.”

“I have to. You’ve clearly had enough.” You reached for it and he yanked it away. “Come on, please just give it to me.” You grabbed it, but he wouldn’t let go. “Chris I’m serious.” You kept pulling and eventually his grip relaxed enough for you to take it out of his hands. Much to his dismay, you took it and all the other empty bottles to the kitchen and threw them away. 

After, you went back to the living room and sat in an armchair, prepared to keep an eye on Chris til he sobered up. 

“Why’d you do that?” He slurred.

“Because you’re wasted and I’m worried about you.” 

“Hmm?” He said sleepily.

“You’re scaring me. I know it’s fucking hard, but you’re going to hurt yourself.”

“That’s the fuckin’ point.” Your heart dropped into your stomach.

“What- what do you mean?”

“What if they’re fucking right? And I’m just useless? What’s the fuckin’ point then? It’s not going to get better ever.” 

“You know that’s not true.” 

“Do I know that?” He yawned. “Or am I just spitting out words other people put in my head?” This was worse than you thought. He just needed to rest and then you could talk some sense into him. You sighed and ran a hand through your hair.

“Are you tired?” you asked. He nodded. “Let’s go to sleep then. You’ll feel better in the morning.”

“But it’s like eight thirty or somethin’.”

“That’s fine. It doesn’t matter. I’ll just read till I get tired. I don’t want to leave you alone.” 

“Okay,” he yawned again. You offered him an arm and helped him to your bedroom. He was out barely a second after his head hit the pillow. He smelled like alcohol and it was gross, but you didn’t want to turn away from him.

“Night,” you whispered, squeezing his arm gently.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning you woke up early. Early enough that it pissed you off and you tried to go back to sleep, only to give up after a while. Chris was out cold and so stiff you had to double check if he was still breathing. He was, thank god.

You grabbed one of his sweatshirts and slipped it over your head before going to the kitchen and making some coffee. You curled up on the couch, rubbing your eyes and waiting for the caffeine to seep into your blood. It was overcast and rainy, which seemed fitting. Thank god it was Saturday, you needed a break.

You turned on the TV quietly, trying to stop yourself from worrying about Chris. You would help him figure it out when he woke up. 

Some time later after one too many episodes of Game of Thrones, footsteps came from behind you. 

“Hey,” he said softly, voice broken and hoarse. “Can I sit?” You nodded. He took care to sit a good six inches away from you. 

“Are you okay?” 

“Yeah, last night was just- fuck,” he sighed. “I got out of control.” You scooted over and took one of his hands, sandwiching it between both of yours. 

“I don’t blame you, you know. It’s not your fault.”

“I know.” His eyes were vacant, absentmindedly staring at your intertwined hands.

“No you don’t. You blame yourself and I hate it. They’re assholes and idiots and you listen to them. It’s actually kind of ironic. You kept going on about how Corey controls everything because he’s the face of the band, but I think it’s you. Arguably your mask is the most iconic, it’s way harder to forget that damn nose than whatever’s on Corey’s face.”

“Really, you think so?” He looked up and you nodded.

“Mhmm. I know it’s easier said than done, but stop letting them push you around. You’re one ninth of that band just like anyone else.” One side of his mouth had shifted into a half smile.

“Yeah, I suppose I am.” He pulled you into a hug. "Thanks for putting up with all this." 

"Eh it's nothing, I just wanna be here for you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bonus fluffy stuff:

“Chris, have you seen my black sweatshirt? The one with the Anthrax logo?” You poked your head out from your bedroom door way, calling to him in the living room. He glanced over.

“No, I haven’t seen it for a few days actually. You might have left it at your sister’s on Sunday.” 

“Fantastic,” you mumbled. “Now what am I gonna wear?” He shrugged.

“Just wear one of mine. It’ll probably be too big for you, but there’s definitely no shortage of black sweatshirts in my closet.” You smiled to yourself, he was too sweet sometimes. You went back into the bedroom and started looking through Chris’s side of the closet. Damn, he wasn’t kidding. He did have a lot of black sweatshirts. One in particular caught your eye.

You slipped it on and walked back to him in the living room. 

“Why do you have a sweatshirt for your own band? Do you actually wear it?” He turned to you and his eyes widened slightly, followed by a satisfied smile. 

“That’s why.” He pointed to you. You looked down at yourself, not exactly sure what he meant. He had guessed right that it would be too big for you. It hung down to the tops of your thighs and you had shoved the sleeves up your arms so they wouldn’t fall past your hands. The jacket was very comfy, and it smelled like Chris, which you loved. You had to admit it made you feel kind of small and cute.

“I don’t get it.” You let the sleeves fall down and waved your arms next to him so the excess fabric lightly slapped against his shoulder. A giggle escaped from your lips, you hadn’t done that with a jacket in a long time.

“You’re going to do that and still say you don’t get it?” 

“I mean, yeah I guess.” You sat down next to him, hugging yourself and cuddling the sweatshirt closer into your chest. “Thank you for letting me borrow your jacket, I love it.”

“Jesus christ, I don’t think I’ve seen anything more perfect.” 

“Oh god no. It’s just me in a sweatshirt. Kind of an everyday thing.”

“Yes, but it’s _my_ sweatshirt, for _my_ band. I don’t think I can explain it very well, but it feels like you’re telling me ‘I’m yours,’ which is obvious why I like it. Plus you just look really fuckin' cute.”

“Of course I’m yours, and you’re mine too.”

“Yeah, always.” He kissed your forehead.

“I hope you know you’re never getting this back by the way.” You grinned at him and he chuckled.

“Small price to pay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow the jacket one makes no sense, whatever though what else was I going to do with it
> 
> Interesting factoid: a lot of the angsty part was actually something I originally wrote for Joey and just modified because I felt it fit Chris better. Also I'm a lazy fuck
> 
> [Also Chris deserves better than what he got and I’m in love with him]


	19. Stranger Pretend We're Dating *cliche* (Corey X Reader)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This makes absolute(ly) zero sense. But if you've gotten this far, you probably won't care.
> 
> Summary: You are walking alone at night and a creepy stranger is following, so naturally you do the logical thing and go up to another stranger and ask him to pretend he knows you so the creepy guy leaves, you return the favor eventually (in a slightly different way)
> 
> Trigger warnings: creepy guy, cursing, kind of it I think, idk lemme know if I forgot something

Subtly, you looked over your shoulder, pretending to be checking out the street sigh. A creepy guy had been following you for one too many blocks now, and it was starting to worry you. Your apartment wasn’t far away, but it was already dark and you didn’t want to take any chances. There weren’t many people around either. You tried to stick to the more populated side of the street, but even then, populated meant one or two strangers. 

_Just four more blocks, then I’m safe behind a gate and a locked door._ You turned right, walking faster and hoping it wasn’t noticeable. This street was more well lit and you saw a man up ahead typing on his phone. You had an idea, but it could seriously backfire depending on who this guy was. By now you were too desperate.

You caught up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned. Oh shit, he was kinda cute. 

“Hi, sorry I didn't recognize you at first. It’s been forever since I last saw you.” He stared at you, confused. You leaned in, keeping your voice just above a whisper. “Will you help me please? This guy’s been following me for a few blocks and I’m starting to get worried.” He nodded, you could tell he understood. 

“Yeah of course, no problem.” He whispered back, then switched his tone to a louder, happy one. “Yeah no kidding, it’s good to see you.” He pulled you into a hug. “I’m Corey by the way,” he said quietly. 

“I’m _____. You’re a lifesaver honestly.” You pulled away.

“So where ya headed?”

“Just back to my apartment. It’s not too far from here, I was meeting a friend earlier.”

“I don’t have any plans, you wanna get some coffee or something?” He started whispering again. “Just go with it. You don’t have to stay, but it’s not a good idea to let him know where you live.” Damn, he was smart. 

“Yeah of course, I’d love to. Have a preference?”

“Clementines’s?” You liked Clementine’s a lot. It was homey and inviting and the banana nut muffins were heaven.

“Sounds good.” 

“So how you been? I feel kinda bad, I’ve been busy as fuck and haven’t really had time to talk to anyone outside the band.” He was in a band? Dang, that’s pretty cool. You hoped it wasn’t some shitty boy band, but he didn’t really look like the type. How many teen pop stars did you know that wore baggy jeans, torn up sneakers, and had long hair? 

“I’ve been good. I totally get the whole busy thing, work’s been pretty hectic lately. How’s the band?” You were genuinely curious at this point. He must have been able to tell because his face lit up.

“It’s kinda crazy right now. I’m still the new guy, so that’s weird. And it’s still a little freaky to have to at least live up to, if not surpass, the first album. Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. was fuckin’ awesome, even if they didn’t have yours truly absolutely annihalating the vocals.” 

Wait a minute, you knew that album. You wracked your brain trying to find out why. Holy shit, your friend was always talking about how her cousin Paul played bass for a band called Slipknot, and consequently, you’d heard that goddamn album about five hundred times. You weren’t complaining though. Slipknot fucking slapped.

“It’s really too bad you didn’t do the singing. I really like that album. I think _Only One_ is my favorite.” After an initial moment of confusion, a huge grin appeared on his face. Even if he wasn’t actually featured on the album, he seemed really proud that you knew them.

“Thanks yeah, it’s really cool.”

You looked behind you, the guy was gone. It was almost disappointing that he wasn’t there. You liked talking to Corey, even if you just met him ten minutes ago.

“Is he gone?”

“Yeah. Thank you so much. Really you’re amazing.” You glanced at the street sign, _almost home_. “We’re just a few blocks away from my apartment, I can take it from here.” He raised an eyebrow.

“If you’re okay with it, I think it’s a better idea if I stay with you, just in case he comes back.” 

“Oh umm,” you shoved your hands into your pockets, staring at your shoes. “Yeah, sure if you want to.”

“Cool let’s go. Lead the way.” He seemed glad you said he could stay. It was making you feel warm and fuzzy inside and also giving you hella butterflies at the same time. “How did you know Slipknot?”

“My best friend is Paul’s cousin. She’s really happy for him and is probably your number one fan.”

“Alice?”

“No the other one, Arya.”

“Oh I know her. She’s cool. Yeah, you’re right she’s definitely our number one fan. I think the only time she hasn’t gone to a show was when she had an appendicitis.” You grimaced, that was not a good time.

“Uh huh. I was there, waiting for her in the hospital all night.” He chuckled. “Hey, that’s what friends are for.” It was quiet for a minute. A street lamp flickered above you and illuminated your apartment building. 

“This is me.” You awkwardly pointed in its direction. “It was really nice meeting you, Corey. And thanks again for saving me back there.” He scoffed.

“I didn’t do shit. I was just being a decent human being.”

“Oh come on, not everyone would do that for a stranger.” He shrugged, but his expression was slightly smug. “So uh, guess I’ll see you around. I’ll come to a show sometime.” His smile fell.

“Yeah, you should.” He looked around at the dark streets, sighing, and then spun back to you quickly. “You wanna actually go to Clementine’s? I mean, whatever, it’s late. No pressure to say yes or anything.” You thought about it. Tomorrow was Friday and you didn’t have to be at work till ten. And you did like him… a lot. 

“Sure, why not.” A huge stupid grin split across his face. 

“Great, cool,” he said happily. You resumed walking, this time actually heading towards the coffee shop. 

You and Corey continued chatting till you finally arrived at Clementine’s. 

“I’m buying,” you said, pulling out your wallet. 

“Oh please, come on. It’s my pleasure.”

“No definitely not. A; it’s like three dollars max, and B; you probably saved my life back there. It’s the least I can do.” He held up his hands in defeat.

“Okay if you insist.”

“Pick your poison.” You pointed at the menu on the wall. There was barely enough time to blink before he turned back to you.

“Normal coffee, add two shots.” He held up two fingers.

“Damn, at this hour? You’re hard core.” 

“I like to think so.” He winked. _Okay then._

You got to the front of the short line, ordered and paid, with you feeling kind of embarrassed you hadn’t asked for rocket fuel like him. 

“So how long have you been in Slipknot? I knew Anders left, but I didn’t know they’d already gotten someone new.” You two were making quiet conversation while waiting for your coffees. 

“Around six months ago…” Corey caught sight of something behind you and trailed off. 

“You good?” 

“Yeah, fine. Hey you wanna do me a huge favor?”

“Sure, I owe you don’t I?”

“Okay that’s bullshit.” He looked up again, eyes scanning the room. He almost seemed to be calculating something. You started turning around to see what all the fuss was about, but he stopped you with a hand on your shoulder. 

“Ready?” he asked.

“As I’ll ever be I guess.” _As ready as I’ll ever be, not knowing what I’m agreeing to that is._

“Okay, kiss me.” There was a brief moment of “what the fuck?” in your brain, before you pulled him close, kissing him as your hand cupped the side of his face. You may have gotten slightly too into it, but it was hardly your fault. He was a phenomenal kisser and once he placed his hands on your waist you were done for. 

You didn’t know how long it lasted, you broke away when it felt right, red faced with labored breathing. Good thing there weren’t many people there right now, public displays of affection could be really awkward sometimes. 

Looking around nervously you realized why he asked you to do that. A girl had walked in, arm in arm with a captain-of-the-football-team-type, and was now staring at you.

“Ex-girlfriend?” You kept your voice hushed.

“Uh huh.” A smile stretched across your face. It was ridiculous really, clearly a power play, like something out of the movies. 

Before Corey could get up to anymore shenanigans, the lady behind the counter waved you over to pick up your drinks. He held your hand as you walked out, smirking and humming to himself. You recognized the tune of Metallica’s _Sad but True_. 

You expected him to drop your hand once outside, and even started to pull away a little yourself, but he didn’t let go. 

“Apartment?” He pointed left and right.

“Left.” 

“That was fun, we should do it again sometime.” You didn’t really know what he meant by that, hang out? Or something else?

“Yeah sure. Maybe not get coffee in the middle of the night though.”

“Not what I meant.” _Oh_ . _Okay_. You didn’t really know what to say to that.

“What did you mean then?” Even if you had a suspicion, it was safer to play dumb just in case you were wrong. 

“Oh come on. You know exactly what I meant.” _Uhhh…_ He stepped closer to you, much closer, until your noses were nearly touching. And didn’t move. Didn’t kiss you, didn’t walk away, just stared at you, and eventually you gave in, kissing him softly. 

The look on his face almost made you want to take it back, pure gloating satisfaction. 

“Yeah, please put that face away, thanks.” You waved in front of him and he laughed. 

“But it’s so fun.” You realized you hadn’t even tried your coffee yet, and rolled your eyes as you took a sip…. And nearly spit it out. By some miracle you swallowed it and held it in Corey’s direction. 

“I think this is yours.” He started laughing harder, gasping for air between fits of hilarity. At first it was cute, then it just kept going. 

“Okay, okay, enough is enough. We’re almost there anyways.” You shoved his arm gently. “Come on, I’m serious.” Slowly, he reeled it in, but not without a few setbacks. He chugged half his coffee right in front of you, and nearly started laughing _again_ at your horrified expression.

“Yeah, that’ll do it.” Part of you wanted to take a wrong turn on purpose, so he didn’t have to leave, but your self control won that battle.

“Thanks again, for everything. Like I said earlier, I could have been lying in a ditch right now if it weren’t for you.” You gave him a tight hug.

“It’s nothing. Worth it a thousand times over. So why don’t you thank me by giving me your number.” 

“Wow. Smooth, real smooth,” you said sarcastically, but pulled the receipt out of your wallet and scribbled your name and number. He read it back to you just in case.

“Well Corey, hopefully next time we see each other won’t be in such weird circumstances.”

“Agreed. I’m going to wait and make sure you get inside safe, if that’s okay?” 

“Yeah, thanks. ‘Night’,” you kissed him one last time and smiled to yourself as you went inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: wow I wrote this at like 1 am when I was exhausted even though that’s not that late, and rereading it now the next morning I am realizing it’s way worse than I thought  
> I might fix it, or I might leave it I don’t know  
> Edit: okay I reread it after a long ass time and I kind of love it, idk if it’s just today but that made me very happy


	20. Christmas With Paul *soul healing imo* (Paul X Reader)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Consider this a bribe so you don't abandon me after the next one. If this is soul healing, the next one's going to be soul crushing.
> 
> Summary: Finally a romantic Paul one. Anyways, I hope I did good idk about this one. Personally I think it's pretty cute. Paul comes home from touring for a few days to spend time with his gender neutral partner. Very fluffy. Lil' feelings, and yeah okay I know it's July and that's dumb, but you're the one reading this so...who's the real fool here?
> 
> Trigger warnings: cursing, drinking (idk how accurate it is tho I don't really drink)

Finally, he was home after touring for what felt like forever, and home for the holidays no less. When Paul texted you to ask if he could stop by for a few days around Christmas, you couldn’t have said yes any faster. He knew he didn’t need to ask, but it was still very thoughtful that he did. 

His plane landed around three, but you didn’t get home from work till five, so by the time you got home he was already there. You opened the door as quietly as you could, intending to surprise him. It nearly failed the second you saw him sitting in the living room. Luckily, you managed to pull it together.

You snuck up behind him and cupped your hands over his eyes. 

“Merry Christmas, guess who?” You whispered in his ear and he chuckled.

“Hmm, I don’t know. Could it be the love of my life who I left tour to visit on Christmas?” Paul played along. You took your hands away from his face and walked around to sit next to him on the couch, tucking your legs under you and leaning against him. 

“Ding ding ding, we have a winner!” 

He turned and gave you the first kiss you two had shared in months. It was over far too soon. Although, never ending may have even been too soon after such a long time. There were obviously pros and cons to Paul’s job. The pros being he was an amazing musician, absolutely loved what he did for a living, and had a blast doing it. But the worst con was by far all the time spent apart. All the nights you spent in bed, staring at the ceiling and hugging a pillow, wishing it would roll over and say, “babe, can you let go? I love you, but you’re strangling me.”

“I missed you so much, Paul. I’m so glad you’re back. Even if it’s just for a little while.” You wrapped your arms around him and he pulled you close. There were no words for how good it felt to be together again. 

“I know I missed you too. God, it fucking sucks without you. You know how hard it is to want a hug and your roommate is Mick?” You could only imagine. You pressed your face into his chest, savoring the sweet moment. He said he would be home for a few days, but lord only knows how fast a few days could feel. 

You took a deep breath, _it doesn’t get better than this. Wait a second…_ Something was off.

“Paul, why do you smell like flowers?” He smiled somewhat sheepishly.

“Oh yeah, I took a shower since I got home early. I couldn’t find my soap so I used yours. That okay?” 

“Of course,” you said with a laugh, taking another sniff. “Weirdly it suits you. You should keep it, I'll get another.”

“I don’t think so. I don’t like the idea of said roommate Mick finding it and telling the guys I use rose pomegranate soap or whatever the fuck it is.” 

“Okay yeah that’s fair. It’s nice though, I like it.”

“Honestly, me too kinda. I feel like a fairy or something- Jesus christ, stop laughing.”

“How the fuck-” you gasped for air between laughs. “Am I supposed to do-” deep breath. “That? You’re in one of the scariest bands in America and you just said you like smelling like a fairy.” 

“Exactly. My confidence and power is so strong that I can be scary _and still_ smell like flowers at the same time.”

“What on earth do I do when you’re gone? How the hell do I live without this?”

“I dunno. I’d probably miss me too.” He smiled, eyes shining. You slapped his arm playfully. 

“Whatever, tough guy.” You got up and hooked your phone to the stereo, turning on Jimmy Eat World’s cover of _Last Christmas_. “So, whatcha want to do?” He stretched and spread his arms across the back of the couch. 

“Let’s watch a bad Christmas movie. The absolute worst we can find, and- and-” he pointed at you, showing he meant business. “Spiked hot chocolate and gingerbread men.”

“Sounds good, but I have neither of those things. We’d have to go to the store.” 

“Fine by me. I’ll drive.” You raised your eyebrows. He certainly was ready to go.

“Alrighty then.” You tossed him the car keys, switching off your phone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Have you done this before?” You asked Paul, staring at the shelves full of whiskey, bourbon, scotch, and vodka. 

“Nope, but you can’t go wrong with Jack. If you put enough chocolate in you can’t even taste it.” He grabbed a bottle off the rack.

“You just said you’ve never done this before.” He shrugged, face splitting into a grin when _Grandma got run over by a reindeer_ started playing through the grocery store speakers. 

“Let’s just go get the chocolate. If it’s gross we’ll drink the Jack straight.”

“A man who gets right to the point, no pussy footing. I like it.” You took his hand and led him to the sweets aisle. “What movie do you wanna watch? How bad does it have to be?” 

“You ever heard of a movie called _Deck the Halls_?”

“Doesn’t that have Danny Devito?” 

“Indeed it does and he is the only good thing about that movie. It’s fucking terrible. Absolutely fucking horrendous.” Your eyes widened when you saw a little kid staring at him and you elbowed him in the side, giving an apologetic look to a glaring mother.

“Shut the fuck up, Paul. There are children around,” you said under your breath, evoking a laugh from him. 

“Okay okay, I’ll stop. What cookies do you want? These are pretty good.” He held up a white box. “Joey had some last week and nearly set me on fire when I stole them.” 

“Get two. I sure as hell don’t want you stealing mine.” 

“That is one-hundred percent fair.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

You plunked the grocery bags on the kitchen counter, shaking out your sore arms. Snacks turned into full on shopping, which really was silly since Paul was leaving again in a few days. 

“Okay, since you’re the expert apparently, how much alcohol do I have to put in this bastardized holiday drink?” 

“I don’t know. How fast you wanna get drunk?”

“Not fast. I wanna spend time with you.” 

“Then not a lot.” You rolled your eyes. _So helpful_.

~~~~~~~~~~~

So much for not fast. Foolishly, you let Paul make the hot chocolate and twenty minutes into _Deck the Halls_ everything was starting to feel very warm and fuzzy. The movie was starting to be good, which was definitely a bad sign.

You laid across Paul’s lap while he played with your hair, probably looking at each other more than the TV. 

“What am I going to do when you’re gone again?” You reached up and brushed your thumb over his cheek.

“What do you do when I’m gone normally?”

“Wait for you to come back,” you pouted. He cracked a smile at this. 

“You’ll be fine. Tour’s over in two months. We’re almost there.” 

“I love you.”

“I love you too.” 

“I love you more.” You smiled teasingly.

“Shut up that’s not possible.”

“It’s very possible, and I will fight you to prove it.” You pantomimed fake punches at the air, making a popping sound effect when they landed on an invisible enemy.

“Uh huh. Good luck with that.”

“What am I supposed to get you for Christmas?”

“Changing the subject are we?” He raised an eyebrow and you shoved him lightly. “Okay okay I’ll stop, and you don’t have to get me anything. I have everything I need right here.”

“You’re too sweet, I’m going to get a cavity. But it’s not about what you _need_ , it’s about me wanting to give you something because I love and appreciate you.” You sat up and swung your leg around, sitting with your legs in a W over his lap. “So tell me what you want, or at least give me a hint pleeeeease?” He looked thoughtful for a moment.

“Hey here’s a dumb idea. I’ll give you one of my sweatshirts, you wear it till it smells like fucking flowers, and then give it back and I’ll take it on tour.” 

“Really? That’s it?”

“Mhmm. That’s it.” 

“You sure?” He nodded. “Okay. I like wearing your clothes anyways.” 

“Can I get something for you?” 

“Actually yeah. I do have something. I have to visit my parents in about a month. Do you think you could find time to come with me?” 

“I’ll try, I promise.” 

“Thank you, you’re amazing.” You leaned forward and gave him a slow kiss. He cupped your cheek with one hand and put the other on your knee.

“No, I'm an asshole. _You’re_ amazing and if santa doesn’t bring you everything you want this year I’m going to kick his ass.”

“I already have everything I want. And even if you’re an asshole, which you are not, I’m a loser, so we’re fuck ups together.” You slid off him and laid back down with your head in his lap.

“This movie sucks Pauli. You wanna get more drunk and dance to shitty Christmas music instead?” 

“I thought you’d never ask.” He smiled. 

You got up to turn the TV off and the music on, and Paul went to the kitchen to grab the booze. This time, the original _Last Christmas_ came on shuffle and you practically skipped over to him, grabbing his hand.

“I love this song.”

“I know, you have like three different versions of it on iTunes.” He took a sip from the bottle and passed it to you. 

“Not my fault.” You took a swig. “The Jimmy version slaps. Dance with me.”

“Okay, but it’s your funeral. I have three left feet,” he warned.

“You have two feet, a right and left, and you’re a great dancer. Stop kidding around.” He set the bottle down and put his hands on your waist. 

“Well I try really hard.”

“I know, me too.” You rested your head on his shoulder. “I’m so happy you could make it home for Christmas.”

“Me too. You have no idea how fucking good it feels to see you again.” His hug tightened and you nearly melted in his arms.

“Course I do. Because I get to see _you_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also look! I updated for the first time in four days, good for me being the lazy fuck that I am. No promises but uhhh my summer course just ended so I should have more time and *might* be able to update more, n o p r o m i s e s though
> 
> Also tbh I don’t it’s that bad for a 20th chapter, milestone?? Maybe idk


	21. Helping Joey Wash His Hair (Joey X Reader)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh sorry I lied this one is nice too, I don't know if I want a soul crushing one anymore. I got it out of my system.  
> I don't know, I've always thought washing your partner's hair was a really sweet and romantic thing to do. And I just bleached my hair so it's on my mind. Also how the fuck could I resist?? Joey has really nice hair. The chapter is kinda short and I feel bad because I love this concept but what can I say, I've been busy.
> 
> Summary: You ask Joey if you can wash his hair for him and you both have just a really nice, sweet moment together.
> 
> I don't know it's kind of weird, but I'm weird so

“Joey?” You stood in the doorway of your bedroom, leaning against the frame and watching Joey with slightly wide eyes.

“Hmm?” He looked up from where he was reading on your bed. You were rocking back and forth on the balls of your feet and twisting your fingers together anxiously. Although there wasn’t really much of a reason to be. You had a perfectly normal request for him, something you’d been wanting for a while actually. 

“I uh, I have something to ask you. You can say no, that’s totally okay. No pressure at all.” You knelt on the bed and sat next to him, absentmindedly running your hand through the hair that was flipped over his shoulder. 

“Yeah sure. What do you need?” He turned his head and kissed your forehead, making your cheeks flush with color. _God, why did he have to be so goddamn perfect?_

“So it’s kind of dumb...” You trailed off and he raised an eyebrow at you. “Can I umm- can I wash your hair for you?” His expression surprised you. He seemed a little confused, but pleased nonetheless. 

“I mean sure, of course.” He shrugged, smiling warmly. 

“Really? Just like that?” 

“Yeah, why not?”

“I don’t know, I thought it was weird or something.” You couldn’t meet his gaze. He took your hand and interlaced his fingers with yours. 

“It’s not weird. It’s really sweet actually. Very intimate.” He always knew what to say to comfort you. You sighed, relieved. 

“Thank you.” You squeezed his hand. “I hope I don’t screw up or something. I’d probably die if I fucked up your hair somehow.”

“You’ll be fine. It’s not that hard. I’ll help.”

“So, you wanna do it now? I mean, it is Sunday and we have no plans.” Joey checked the time on his phone. 

“Yeah, sure. You want me to get my stuff and we can do it in the bathtub or something?” You smiled broadly and let your head drop onto his shoulder.

“Yeah, that would be great.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~

Joey went to your bathroom to grab his shampoo and conditioner and you tried to figure out how this was going to work. If he sat in the bathtub, you could kneel outside of it and lean over to him. 

You joined him and he set two bottles and a hair brush on the counter. 

“How do you wanna do this?” You motioned towards the tub. “Obviously, I’ve never done this before and I just want you to be comfortable.” He nodded in consideration.

“I’ll sit down in it and if it’s okay with you, you can sit on the floor next to me?” You nodded. “Hang on before that I’m going to fold up a towel over the edge so I don’t have to crane my neck all the way upside down.”

“Sounds good.” You pulled him into a tight hug, giving him a quick kiss and pushing his hair out of his face, marveling at how soft it was. 

After setting everything up, Joey changed into bathing suit shorts and sat in the tub, figuring out how best to lean his head back. You turned on the water and he flinched, gritting his teeth. You realized your mistake and gave him an apologetic smile.

“Sorry.” You turned the dial to hot, letting the water slowly warm up while you sat on the floor next to him and held his hand, picking at his black nail polish. Steam filled the room, fogging up the mirror and the frosted glass window. You grabbed some body wash and poured it in right under the faucet, where sweet smelling bubbles started forming on top of the water. 

“Is it warm enough?” You asked Joey, dipping your fingers into the water and flicking the excess droplets at him. 

“Mhmm,” he murmured. He had closed his eyes, only opening one after the water hit his cheek. “Feels nice.” You turned off the tap.

“Okay, I’m going to dunk your head. Hold your breath for a second.” He nodded and you held your hand under his neck and lowered it, cupping water in your palm and letting it drip over his hairline. He brought his head back up and you smoothed the hair away from his face, smiling softly. Water drops were clinging to his eye lashes and his skin was slightly flushed from the heat. 

“You look cute right now.” 

“Really?” He opened his eyes. You nodded. “Good, because according to my niece when my hair is wet I look like a rat.” 

“That’s such a lie. You can’t trust kids. They just want a reaction and they’ll say anything to get it.” You tucked a rogue strand of hair behind his ear. He chuckled.

“Suppose that’s fair.”

You grabbed his shampoo from the counter and poured some into your hand, working it through the ends of his hair first, before moving up to his scalp. His hair was smooth and silky against your fingertips, it was obvious how well he took care of it. You looked over and saw that his eyes had closed again. Your heart squeezed. It felt nice to be able to help him relax and feel good, lord knows he needed it sometimes. 

Your finger combed through it, gently massaging his scalp. He let out a low sound that was somewhere between a sigh and a quiet groan. Hopefully, it was a good thing? After making sure it was all evenly spread out, you helped him dunk his head again and rinse it out. 

“Everything’s still okay?” You reached around and tapped the hand he was resting on the edge of the tub. 

“It’s fuckin’ amazing is what it is. You’re seriously an angel or something,” his voice was sleepy and he leaned back against the rim of the tub, humming faintly. 

“Hardly, but I’m happy you’re happy.” 

“You can say that again,” he mumbled. 

You picked up his conditioner from the tile floor and popped the cap open, inhaling the nice smell as you squeezed some into your hand. Joey’s soap always smelled like coconut and it suited him very well. 

“Just do the ends about half way up. Don’t put it all the way up to my head. Makes it too greasy sometimes.” He rubbed his eyes and glanced at you.

“Okay.” If you thought his hair was soft before, this was a whole new level. Your fingers could comb through easily with no tangles at all, even after you washed it out. 

“Dunk your head again.” Joey dipped his head below the water and you made sure all the conditioner was washed out, lightly scraping your fingernails against his scalp. 

“God, I have to get out before I fall asleep.” He stood up and stepped out, twisting his hair to try and get the excess water out. You handed him a fluffy towel and he dried his hair before wrapping around his waist. 

“You want me to brush it for you?” you offered. He smiled and you thought you’d never seen anything more perfect.

“Yeah, yeah that would be great. Let me get some dry clothes though first.” He changed into jeans and a sweatshirt that was a little too big and you sat together on the bed. 

“Can you pass it to me?” You pointed to the hairbrush. Joey obliged and you slowly started brushing out the (very few) tangles from the ends of his hair, eventually going higher, from root to tip. He reached behind and put his hand on your knee, fingers drawing small circles over your now somewhat wet jeans. 

It had been a while since you and Joey took some time to just relax and enjoy each other's company. He was busy with the band and you were preoccupied with work and trying to find time to see your aunt who was coming to town; which unfortunately meant laid back movie dates and lazy Sunday mornings were out of the picture.

You finished getting out all the tangles and pulled it back into a loose braid to keep it out of his face while it dried. 

“All done.” You peaked over his shoulder and kissed his cheek.

“Damn, already?” He turned towards you. “I was about to fall asleep.” Your smile fell a little.

“I can keep going if you want?” 

“No no, it’s totally okay. I was joking. But anytime you wanna do that again, I’m game.” 

“Yeah, I had fun.” He shifted around so he was facing you and you felt his eyes sweep over your face. He leaned forward to kiss you and you were reminded of the ending credits scene from Sixteen Candles where Samantha and Jake Ryan sit together on a table. A strand of hair fell from the braid and you tucked it back behind his ear, earning an appreciative kiss. 

“I’ll never get tired of times like this,” Joey said and cupped your face in his hand. 

“I certainly hope not, because I never will.” You laid down on the bed staring at the ceiling, tracing the cracks with your eyes and fiddling with the sleeve of Joey’s jacket. “Remember that time- it was like our second date I think, and we planned to go to Lyla’s for lunch, but it was closed? And then it started raining because things couldn’t get worse obviously, so we ducked into the closest bar and ordered drinks.” Joey chuckled and stretched out next to you, scooting close enough that your shoulders touched.

“It was really fuckin' loud in there. I think there was a game on, basketball or something,” he added, thinking back. 

“And it was kind of awkward so you tried to ask me about the game, but I couldn’t tell you anything about it because I wasn’t really watching it. I was just watching you...” You trailed off, realizing that may have sounded creepier than you intended it to be. You turned your head to look at him, chewing your lip self consciously. To your relief he didn’t look weirded out at all, more thoughtful or amused.

“Yeah I could tell. It worked in my favor too because I don’t know shit about basketball. And truthfully it was adorable. You kept giving me these sideways glances and looking away when you saw I was looking back.” 

You sat up and moved so your back could rest against the headboard of the bed, motioning for Joey to come join you. He did and wrapped an arm around you, using the other to grab a blanket and pull your legs sideways over his lap. 

“I can’t imagine it gets much better than this,” you mumbled, dropping your head onto his shoulder and closing your eyes. 

“Me neither.” 

It was quiet for a little while, the sounds of your breathing in sync coupled with his heartbeat filled your ears. You never wanted the moment to end. An idea popped into your head.

“Joey…” You looked up at him with big eyes.

“Yeah?” He knew you were up to something.

“Can I put your hair in two braids instead of one?” You broke into a sheepish smile, toying with a hair tie on his wrist. He sighed, but the faintest of smirks graced his lips. 

“Sure, why not.” He reached around and pulled his hair out of the braid.

“Perfect. I love you, Joey.” You kissed his cheek with an exaggerated “mwah.” He rolled his eyes and your heart fluttered.

“Love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also can we take a moment to acknowledge that I said I was going to update faster since I had more time now and instead I'm updating slower because I somehow have less time???


	22. Jim Meets Your Parents + some small age gap things (Jim X Reader)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don't know I thought this was sweet.
> 
> Summary: Jim meets your parents over dinner and he's a little nervous because you two have a pretty decent age gap. (all consenting adults here)  
> Put your name in the blank spaces.
> 
> Trigger warnings: cursing, small small small age gap stuff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope the age gap thing wasn’t disrespectful, yikes. Idk I put that in there because I’m way younger than any celeb I’ve ever been attracted to, Irl Jim is more than twice my age, so I included it because why not, you know. Adds an extra layer. 
> 
> Also your grandma is there instead of your dad because I have daddy issues and don’t want him anywhere near my partners so uh sorry y’all. :|

“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.” You stood on your tiptoes to fix the collar of your boyfriend’s shirt. “They’ll love you.” Jim sighed, running a hand through his slightly messy hair. 

“I hope so. I mean, it wouldn’t stop me, but I’d hate to think your parents didn’t approve of me.” You could tell he was nervous, it was frankly quite endearing, but really you wanted him to relax and have a good time tonight. He didn’t _have to_ agree to visit your parents with you and it was sweet of him to say yes.

“Here sit down for a second.” His hair was actually messier than you’d originally thought and he did always appreciate it when you brushed it for him. He obliged and you grabbed a brush from the dresser, gently working it through his soft hair. He relaxed a little, dropping the tension from his shoulders and leaning back, resting one of his hands on your hip as you worked. 

“There, all done. You look very handsome James. I would be astonished if they didn’t love you.” A small smile appeared on his face, but it didn’t reach his eyes. 

“Maybe, I just don’t know how they would feel about me being so...” he trailed off.

“Old?” you finished for him. “You’re worried they’ll think you’re too old? James, you’re thirty seven that’s hardly old.” 

“In the grand scheme of things, no. Compared to you-” he made a so-so gesture with his hand. You rolled your eyes. 

“It doesn’t matter. It’s twelve fucking years for christ’s sakes. Besides, you make me happy and I’m pretty sure I make you happy too. So why does it matter?” 

“You make me very happy,” he chuckled, brushing his thumb across your cheek. 

“Well, I would hope so,” you grumbled sarcastically. “We live together and sleep in the same bed and kiss and eat breakfast together everyday- I could go on, but you get the picture.” You stood up and walked to the full length mirror, fidgeting with the hem of your shirt and adjusting your hair. Jim walked up behind you, easily seeing himself over your head. 

“You look amazing.” He tugged your arm gently, spinning you around to face him instead of the mirror. You motioned for him to bend down and you stretched up to kiss him. He pulled away, smiling and breathing slightly harder than before. “Now come on we have to go. I’d rather not be late.” 

“Ugh, okay fine.” You tossed him the keys and grabbed your bag, flicking off the lights as you headed out the door.

~~~~~~~~~

You left the window open on the drive over to your parents house, letting the cool night air blow past and listening to the hum of the radio. Their house wasn’t very far and you arrived pretty quickly considering there seemed to be more traffic than normal. 

Jim parked in the driveway and before you left the car, you squeezed his hand and gave him a short kiss. 

“It’s going to be fine. They’ll love you, and even on the off chance that they don’t, I love you and that’s what matters.” He passed a half smile and nodded.

“I hope so.” You held hands, letting them swing a little, as you walked to the front door. 

You knocked a few times and waited, bouncing on the balls of your feet and beaming at Jim in excitement. The door opened and your mother appeared in the doorway, smiling broadly.

“Honey! It’s lovely to see you,” she said cheerfully and pulled you into a hug. After stepping away, she cupped your cheek with one hand, holding you at arms length. “You look so grown up. Everytime I see you it feels like years have gone by.” Your face heated, knowing Jim was watching your mom fuss over you.

“Thanks mom,” you said tightly and glanced sideways at Jim who looked abmused. 

“And you must be James. It’s wonderful to meet you.” He offered her a hand to shake, but she held out her arms and motioned for him to hug her instead. He awkwardly accepted her hug and you were pretty sure your face was beet red by now.

“The pleasure’s all mine, ma’am.” Your eyes softened, he was always such a gentleman. 

“Don’t bother with all that ma’am business.” She made a “forget it” gesture. “First names are just fine. Although, you might want to check with Grandma before you use her first name. She might be more sensitive than I am. You know how they get with old age.”

“Wait, Grandma? She’s here?” This was a surprise.

“Oh I’m sorry I forgot to tell you sweetheart, but your father couldn’t make it and Grandma asked if she could come over so of course I said yes. I hope that’s okay.” 

“Of course that’s okay. I haven’t seen her in forever.” 

“Let’s get inside then. She made spaghetti and it smells amazing.” Your mom ushered you two inside, but you caught her attempt at subtle scrutiny of your boyfriend. 

She was right, the whole house smelled like garlic and tomato sauce and it made your mouth water. Your grandma was resting in an armchair in the living room, flipping through a magazine and you rushed over to give her a hug. 

“Gram, it’s so amazing to see you. I missed you so much. It feels like it’s been forever.” Her hugs were always so cozy and her faint flowery perfume was familiar and homey to you.

“I missed you too, munchkin. You’ve gotten so big. Well not big I guess, more _mature_ I suppose.” You giggled.

“That’s what mom said.”

“She’s right- and my who’s this handsome man you’ve brought with you?” She started towards Jim. _Uh oh._

“Hi, I’m James. I’m _____’s boyfriend.” He held out a hand, but she didn’t take it, choosing instead to look him up and down thoughtfully. 

“Hmm, you seem...older. You know my munchkin’s only twenty five.” It was more of a statement than a question. You dropped your forehead into your hand. Old people have literally no filter. Jim opened his mouth to respond, probably with something even and respectful, but your mom came to his recuse just in time.

“Mom, why don’t we sit down?” She took your grandma by the arm and led her to the dining room. “It’s getting late and I’d hate for the food to get cold.” After raising an eyebrow, your grandma nodded, satisfied for the time being.

You and Jim sat on one side of the table, opposite your two relatives. It actually ended up being a relief that your dad wasn’t there. He could be iffy about your relationships sometimes. 

“Here James,” your grandma passed him a plate of zucchini and green beans, having eventually been won over by his charm. “You’re a growing boy, it’s very important that you get enough to eat.” It was quite a marvel how your grandma could address a nearly middle aged man like he was ten years old. Luckily he didn’t seem to mind. 

You smiled at him and gave his thigh a light squeeze under the table, pulling a grin from his serious expression. Turning back to your mom, you found her looking absolutely elated. You were very grateful she liked him. Grandma on the other hand...apparently hadn’t gotten it out of her system, because over dessert she brought up her skepticism of Jim’s age along with a few other choice features.

“_____ told me you’re a musician. In a band, correct?” She drummed her fingers together and you cringed. It seemed almost ominous.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“What kind of band? I assume it isn’t something like jazz.” She must have caught sight of his tattoos under the sleeve of his button down.

“No, not jazz. It’s a rock band, called Slipknot, and I play guitar.” You grandma nodded slowly.

“I see.”

“He’s an amazing guitarist,” you jumped in. “Really he’s incredible.” Jim looked slightly embarrassed. “Oh come on, you know it’s true. Don’t be so modest.” He dipped his head in thanks and you turned back towards your family. “He’s just shy, Slipknot’s been crushing it for over twenty years now.” Oops, you realized your mistake right after you said it.

“Twenty years, wow that is a long time. How old are you James?” Your grandma latched onto the weak spot you had left exposed. He seemed to shrink in his seat, which is really something considering he’s six foot seven. 

“I'm thirty seven.” 

“Interesting. That’s much older than _____. How did you two meet?” You and Jim exchanged a glance.

“You want me to tell it or…” you offered.

“Yeah, if you want.” He shrugged.

“We met at a concert. Maia’s brother is in Slipknot and she asked if I wanted to come with her to one of their shows. I said yes and we ended up backstage to congratulate Sid. I met James there and the rest is history.”

“That’s nice.” 

~~~~~~~~

The rest of the dinner proceeded uneventfully, with sparse awkward moments, but mostly light conversation. It was good to catch up with your family and even though it wasn’t the warmest welcome, it meant a lot to you that Jim agreed to come. 

“Bye mom, bye Gram!” You waved goodbye one last time from the driveway, before getting in the car and starting on the way home.

“Thank you,” you said, reaching over and rubbing Jim’s shoulder. “I really appreciate that you came with me. And I’m really sorry about my grandma. Old people can be judgemental sometimes, you know?” He was silent, eyes glued to the road in front of him.

“James?” You tried again. To your dismay he stayed stoic and distant. You huffed and decided it would be better just to wait til you got home. 

At home, you sat on the couch and stared at him, waiting for an explanation, a complaint- at least something. After what felt like an eternity he sat down next to you, running his hands through his hair. 

“Jim, are you okay?” 

“Yeah, yeah I guess. I don’t know, what your grandma kept saying about me being too old for you, kind of got to me. Let’s face it I’m almost forty and what’s going to happen when you don’t want to date a forty year old anymore?” Your mouth fell open slightly.

“What- where did you get that idea? I- that’s not true at all. I would never leave you for something like that. I love you.” You took his hands. “James look at me.” Reluctantly he did. 

“I don’t give a fuck how old you are. I love you because you’re you, and I’d never, ever, leave you for something that has almost nothing to do with our relationship.” He didn’t seem completely convinced, but you could tell he felt better. He probably just needed some rest and maybe a little more reassurance of how much you loved him. 

“I love you too, angel. And I believe you,” he deep voice was soothing. “And I also don’t think this will go away overnight. I just need some time, okay?” He tucked some of your hair behind your ear and you nodded, a bittersweet smile forming on your lips.

“Of course, take all the time you need.” You leaned into him, the warm of his body comforting you. “But right now, maybe we can spend some time together?” He raised an eyebrow. “I know it’s late, but there’s still time to watch an episode and maybe cuddle or something.” He kissed your forehead.

“Yeah of course. There’s always time.”


End file.
